Remembrance Day (End of the First World War)

With the horn signal - Last Post - memorial services begin on Memorial Day"Remembrance Day", also known as "Poppy Day" and "Armistice Day", in Australia has the same meaning as in all Commonwealth countries. On this day, all those who died in the First and Second World Wars are remembered, the victims of numerous military conflicts are honored.

Remembrance Day (originally Armistice Day) was established by the British King George V in 1919. Its official date is November 11 (the truce signed on this day marks the end of the First World War).

Every year, all Commonwealth countries fall silent for two minutes at 11:11. Two minutes symbolize the First and Second World Wars. Until 1945, the silence lasted only one minute. In some countries, including Australia, this tradition is still present.

In a number of countries, the main events (with the exception of two minutes of silence) are held on the second Sunday of November – Remembrance Sunday. In Australia, all services are organized on November 11. Although this day is not an official holiday. Memorial services are held throughout the country at war memorials. No service is complete without a horn signal – Last Post. In the original, this signal in the British troops announced the end of the day. Today, this signal is given in military ceremonies in memory of those who fell in battle.

The symbol of Remembrance Day is red poppies. They are pinned to their clothes, left on war memorials as a sign of respect for the exploits of heroes. The importance of poppies became decisive – including in Australia – thanks to the poem of the Canadian military doctor John McRae “In the fields of Flanders”. In the fields of Flanders, where the heaviest battles took place, poppies blossomed - as if symbolizing the blood of soldiers.

Today, however, many people prefer to wear white poppies as a call to peace.