The poppy is traditionally worn on Remembrance Day in memory of service personnel who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and subsequent conflicts like the Falklands War and the Gulf War.

The red poppies represent the poppies that grew in the cornfields of Flanders in the First World War where many thousands of solders lost their lives. The paper poppies that are worn today are made by ex-service personnel and are sold by representatives of the Royal British Legion, an organisation of ex-servicemen and women.

Remembrance Day falls on the nearest Sunday to 11 November, the day peace was declared. The day is commemorated by church services around the country, wreaths of poppies are left at the Cenotaph, a war memorial in Whitehall.

By tradition, at 11am on Remembrance Sunday a two-minute silence is observed in the country to honour those who lost their lives. In recent years, a two-minute silence has also been observed at 11am on the 11 of November itself.

This year in the UK, on 6 November, under a sombre leaden November sky, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh formally opened the Field of Remembrance as some 2,000 serving military personnel, veterans and members of the public crowded into the garden in front of Westminster Abbey to remember fallen friends and colleagues. The Field of Remembrance is open for public viewing throughout the period of remembrance and commemoration.

In the US, on Sunday 9 November, the British Ambassador to the US Sir Nigel Sheinwald will lay a wreath at St. David's Church in Washington, DC, on behalf of the United Kingdom, in remembrance of those who have given their lives in two World Wars and all conflicts since.

Sir Nigel will also give a reading from the Book of the Prophet Micah from the Old Testament. Joining him at the Remembrance Sunday service, which also marks the 90th anniversary of the Armistice, will be senior representatives of the Embassies of Australia, Canada and New Zealand who are attending on behalf of their respective nations.

The Service, held at St. David's Episcopal Church, will led by The Reverend Robin Dodge, at 5150 Macomb St. NW, Washington, DC, at 11:15am. 

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