08/11/2019
Today, as with most days recently, I am wearing my poppy with pride.
Each year, during the month of October, I make an online purchase from the Royal British Legion's Poppy Shop.
In the UK, the Royal British Legion have the two leaf poppy and also, through Poppy Scotland, the four leaf poppy.
You can also, obviously, buy the poppies from authorised sellers.
What people should not do, is buy their poppies from non-authorised shops.
There are plenty of Facebook pages that spring up around this time of year, many of them purporting to be patriotic and showing respect for our troops. However, if you dig below the surface on some of these pages, you will find ulterior motives. Some of them press nationalistic messages, have racist posts and clearly push a xenophobic agenda.
Patriotism can be considered devotion to a particular place or a particular way of life, which a person has great pride in. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally.
Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. Nationalism is an ideology and movement characterised by the promotion of the interests of a particular nation, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.
Patriotism is fine, good even. Nationalism is ugly.
Some of these Facebook pages also promote and sell their own poppies.
They market these quite well and they are frequently more 'desirable' to look at than the official RBL poppies. They might have very emotive imagery, they might depict a soldier or animals that served in wars. But, they are not the official RBL poppies and you cannot be sure that the money made from their sale will go to the right places.
The profits from these badges might simply go into the pockets of those seeking to profit from our respect for those who served in HM Armed Forces, or, worse still, might be used to further the xenophobic aims of those abusing the trust of others.
So, if you haven't already bought your poppy, buy one from one of the many authorised sellers you will find in shopping centres, train stations or other public places. In addition, many shops and bars have official poppy merchandise for sale at their tills.
If, like me, you wear poppy merchandise at other times of the year, you can head to the RBL Poppy Shop for clothing, bags, jewellery and more.
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