November 11 is Remembrance Day in Canada.

Last year, we blogged about “Why is everyone wearing poppies?” to explain Canada’s Remembrance Day traditions:

A national public holiday, Remembrance Day is celebrated at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It originally commemorated the end of World War I on November 11, 1918, at 11 am.

Beginning about two weeks before Remembrance Day, you’ll notice many Canadians sporting bright red poppy pins on their left lapels.

Every year at the end of October, the Royal Canadian Legion, Canada’s largest veterans services organization, begins selling poppies (by donation) all across the country. Long a symbol of remembrance in other countries, the poppy became Canada’s official Remembrance Day icon in 1921.

The annual poppy campaign is designed to honor the 117,000 Canadian service people who have lost their lives in military operations around the world. The money raised provides assistance to veterans and their families.

Canadian banks, offices, schools, and many businesses are closed on Remembrance Day.

Here’s a list of events marking the holiday this week across the country.

Read more about Canada’s poppy tradition in this post from Why Go Canada, “Where Poppies Grow: Remembrance Day in Canada.”

You might also be interested in reading about emerging alternatives to the traditional red poppy; the Globe and Mail wrote about the topic in “Rethinking the poppy in a respectful way.”

Poppy photo by That Canadian Grrl (flickr)