The poppy (coquelicot in French)
The poppy is the flower in fashion in France. It pops up (pun intended) on all kind of objects from dishes to fashion wear.
It is a beautiful if ephemeral flower. It fragile crumpled petals flower for a day or so before lying flat. They create sumptuous landscapes when blanketing meadows or fields of wheat.
The famous Van Gogh painting (stolen from a Cairo Museum in 2010 and is still missing) certainly captures this fragile beauty.
Poppies have long been used as a symbol of both sleep and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of their (commonly) blood-red color. In Greco-Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead as well as a promise of resurrection after death.
Today it is also the symbol of remembrance of the war dead. It was first popularized that way by an American war nurse , Moina Michael, after WWI, then by a French lady Mme Guérin, to raise funds for war orphans. It is a particularly popular symbol in Canada.
Poppies have long been used as a symbol of both sleep and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of their (commonly) blood-red color. In Greco-Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead as well as a promise of resurrection after death.
Today it is also the symbol of remembrance of the war dead. It was first popularized that way by an American war nurse , Moina Michael, after WWI, then by a French lady Mme Guérin, to raise funds for war orphans. It is a particularly popular symbol in Canada.
Today it is found on many designs from tatoos to cupcakes …..to beautiful trays and shopping bag.
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