How to buy a 2025 remembrance poppy in France
The Royal British Legion has several branches in the country. You can also buy a French bleuet
The Royal British Legion operates six regional branches outside of Paris
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November 11 is Remembrance Day and you can get a poppy to commemorate the fallen and show your support for service personnel and their families at several branches of the UK’s Royal British Legion in France via their Poppy Appeal campaigns .
The poppy became a symbol of remembrance when this hardy flower was one of the only ones to grow amid the destruction of the World War One battlefields.
Canadian soldier John McCrae immortalised the flower in the poem In Flanders Fields.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
The Royal British Legion launched its first Poppy Appeal in 1921.
Since Brexit, it is no longer possible to order a poppy online from the Royal British Legion in the UK.
You can buy a poppy from local branches in Brittany (based in Pontivy), Bordeaux, Lyon, Nord Pas-de-Calais (based in Martinpuich), Normandy, Paris, Provence Monaco (formerly the Nice branch) and Somme (based in Mailly Maillet).
"Each branch will have its own poppy distribution points," Elaine Baverstock, Chairman of the Royal British Legion Provence Monaco, told The Connexion.
"We have depots from Aix-en-Provence to Bordighera (Italy) at shops, offices, schools, bars, restaurants, churches and libraries. In fact anywhere there is a British community. And we offer a mail order service to anywhere across France offering poppies, wreaths, Remembrance crosses for the cost of postage and a donation," said said.
Anyone interested can contact her via the Provence Monaco branch website or contact their nearest British Legion branch for information on where they are selling.
In Paris, you can buy poppies at the bookshop Smith & Son (formerly WH Smith) and in British churches.
They are also available at participating British pubs around France.
If you cannot get to these locations to buy a poppy, you can make a donation to the appeal online here.
France’s blue flower of remembrance
In France, the symbol of remembrance and solidarity with veterans is the bleuet – the cornflower – which have been sold since November 11, 1934.
For more than 80 years, these flowers have been manufactured and sold every year by the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War, in order to provide financial assistance to war victims, veterans and victims of terrorism.
Bleuets were created by two nurses using blue fabric reminiscent of the uniforms of French soldiers. The term bleuet was used to refer to the younger generation of French soldiers after 1917.
They can be purchased around France and online here.