REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Before jumping to Remembrance Day in Canada let us see, the meaning of Remembrance Day throughout the World.

What is Remembrance Day?

Most of the commonwealth nations celebrate Remembrance Day as a memorial day to remember the members of the armed forces who sacrificed their lives in World War 1. After a tradition started by King George V, some non-commonwealth nations also celebrate the festival.

In most countries, Remembrance Day is celebrated on 11th November to recall the end of World War 1. Remembrance Day is also known as the Armistice Day.

Remembrance Day in Canada

Canada observes Remembrance Day as a statutory holiday, excepting the case of Manitoba (MB), Ontario (ON), Nova Scotia (NS), Quebec (QC). Some 100,000 Canadian soldiers died in the First and the Second World Wars. The public buildings in the country fly the Canadian National Flag on this day and a 2-minute silence is observed at 11 am, this was the day World War 1 on November 1, 1918.

Something Special About This Remembrance Day

Most of the Canadians are unaware that according to surveys this Remembrance Day marks a milestone. The Sunday marks the 100th year of the ending of the war. Similar to the previous years are being planned throughout Canada this year but most of the Canadian population is planning not to attend them, as found by a genealogy website, Ancestry.

Now we can know the importance of  Remembrance Day in Canada. Also, the survey found that 56% percent of the 1,524  attendants don’t know the importance of this year’s anniversary. It also suggested that Canadians awareness about World War 1 might be fading.

SOME FACTS ABOUT REMEMBRANCE EVERY CANADIAN SHOULD KNOW

• Remembrance Day was first celebrated in 1919 throughout commonwealth countries.
• Belgium, Poland, and France are the only non-commonwealth countries which celebrate Remembrance Day.
• Poppies are considered as the symbol of Remembrance Day.
• In 1921, for the first time poppies were used as a symbol of Remembrance Day because they were the first to be laid on the battlefields of Belgium and Poland.
• Approximately 21 million poppies are distributed across Canada each year.
• Purple poppies are a symbol to remember animals who laid their lives in the World War 1.
• The last British soldier who saw the war survived until he was 111 years old and died in 2009.

So, commemorate the soldiers who laid their lives in the World War 1.

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