My question is when did wearing poppies on parade become compulsory? Is this just CACWO spreading misinformation? The regs say we may wear them. Not that we must.
"a. Royal British Legion / Poppy Scotland Poppy. The poppy may be worn from the onset of sales and until the National and local observations have concluded. Only the conventional paper poppy is to be worn on ceremonial dress and on parades (with the exception of personnel on ceremonial duties at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday). "
This guidance should have come out a month ago and not 4 days before the 11th.
Two points,
It was not so long ago that the wearing a poppy in RAF uniform was against the regs. How things have changed in a few short years (and it was a stupid rule).
The MTP top shown is the CS95 pattern âBarack Shirtâ which if I am not mistaken is against current RAFAC dress regulations.
While I would encourage all to wear a poppy in whatever dress is worn I would not make it compulsory.
The RAF decided that it looked a bit odd that the other services wore poppies on parade and they didnât, and so changed things around and we followed suit.
Whatever the reason, I am certainly glad we no longer have to explain why we arenât wearing poppies on a remembrance parade!
Also, the text on that poster is a summary; staff are expected to be au fait with the full regulations and advise cadets (and other staff) accordingly.
They were compulsory in v1.06 (2014) but that wording was subsequently removed/amended. It now simply mandates what style of poppy is worn on parade. This could easily be shoddy wording by the RAF of course.
I would suggest though that we should consider it compulsory for those on parade for remembrance.
According to RC(N) on the CFC Ask the Team Page, itâs been approved by the RAF and will be published in 2 weeks once more pictures have been added. Almost a year since the insignia change
Having been away for a while, I cant see an issue with encouraging cadets to wear poppies, after all we are a military youth organisation last time I looked?
The poster says we must âalwaysâ wear them on remembrance parade. The dress regs say we may. As far as I can see that poster is wrong.
I donât agree with compulsory remembrance, and personally havenât worn a poppy for several years. I still attend parade when I can, and have collected for the RBL. I just donât wear them for various reasons.
Thatâs because it ABSOLUTELY should not be optional on a remembrance parade to not wear a poppy - the clue is in the title of the parade âRemembranceâ âŚagain i stress I am not sure what the actual issue is here, except for people needing to bleat and moan about something⌠#BandWagon
I disagree. Actually turning up and parading covers you for remembering, and personally the wearing or not of a piece of coloured paper makes no difference to my ability to commemorate the sacrifice of others. I have friends who have lost people relatively recently, Iâve been on tours of battlefields and learnt history, I still make a donation to the RBL every year.
Wearing a small token on my uniform doesnât make me any better at any of the above. However, I think it would look better if we either all wear them or all donât.
Edited to add - the issue is one of HQAC making a poster telling us itâs mandatory when in reality it isnât.
