Today, we celebrate Remembrance Day; a national day of remembrance observed in Canada and many countries across the world. It is a day dedicated to honouring “the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace” (Veterans Affairs Canada).
Remembrance Day Facts
- Remembrance Day was originally called Armistice Day because it signified the end of World War I. On November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m. – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – Germany signed the armistice agreement that ended WWI.
- Over 100,000 Canadians have died serving our country.
- It was common for poppies to grow over soldiers’ graves soldiers and on battlefields. As a result, the Poppy is used as a symbol of Remembrance.
- The famous war poem “In Flanders Fields” was written during the battle of Ypres by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. After seeing battlefields and soldiers’ graves covered in poppies, he was inspired to write the poem which has been adopted as the unofficial anthem of Remembrance Day
Please join us at 11 a.m. this morning in taking a moment of silence to remember the men and women who have courageously fought, and continue to fight, to keep our country strong, proud and free.
All students are encouraged to visit Veterans Affairs Canada to learn more about the history of Remembrance Day.
*Photo c/o Western University