In Remembrance – Lest We Forget
In honour of all those who have served in the British Armed Forces.
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I.
The Initial or Very First Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace commencing with King George V hosting a banquet during the evening hours of 10 November 1919. The First Official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the Grounds of Buckingham Palace on the Morning of 11 November 1919. This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for years to come.
The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.