There is an innate human need to remember those who die. In Britain we have tended to squeeze out this space. Funerals have become clinical, partly because cremations are less personal than old-fashioned burials, although alternative 'green' funerals have begun to recognise and address this. In Ireland, both North and South, many of the older ways remain. All societies have their ways of coming to terms with death and remembrance, both in personal terms and also as communities.
National memorials provide a potent way of defining a people.
Red poppies, like war memorials, have become a national symbol of remembrance. The main reason for wearing a poppy may be to remember those who sacrificed their lives on our behalf. It may signify acceptance of a war mentality, implying that our side was right. It may indicate a positive glorification of war. For pacifists and peace campaigners the red poppy has always posed problems and one solution has of course been the idea of combining poppy for remembrance with white for peace.