how to wear a poppy correctly australia. On the Gallipoli peninsula, rosemary is a common wildflower. A sprig of rosemary, revered since antiquity for its supposed ability to enhance memory, is traditionally worn on Anzac Day.
In a poppy-headpiece
Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian who served as a medical officer in France during World War I and became famous for his writings about the red poppy, also called the Flanders poppy, popularized the idea of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance.
The legend goes that the poppies bloomed amid the rubble of World War I in France and Belgium, and that their blood-red color came from the blood of the fallen soldiers.
More and more often, Australians will lay red poppies on war graves or at the foot of memorials with the names of fallen soldiers engraved next to them as a gesture of respect and remembrance. On and around November 11th, in honor of Remembrance Day, many Australians don poppies (worn on the left breast or lapel).
Rituals Held at Dawn
In combat, the early morning hours of dim light were often a favorable time to launch an assault. The stand-to refers to the practice of awakening soldiers in defensive positions before dawn, so that they are awake, alert, and ready to fire when the first light of day appears on the battlefield.
After WWI, returning soldiers yearned for the same sense of camaraderie they had experienced in the dark hours before dawn. The dawn stand-to, a practice common on the front lines during the war, inspired a new form of commemoration in several locations in the years following the conflict: the dawn vigil.
In his book Sacred places: war memorials in the Australian landscape (1998), Ken Inglis recounts how a group of returned men in Sydney had the idea of memorializing that dawn of 1915 in 1927. After attending an early morning Anzac Day event, five men were on their way home when they saw an elderly woman laying a bouquet of flowers on the unfinished Cenotaph. They bowed their heads with her, and the men of their Association decided to hold a memorial service at the Cenotaph at first light.
Throwing a Catafalque
An elevated platform on which a coffin can be displayed so that mourners can file past in order to pay their respects is called a catafalque. A watch party, also known as a catafalque party, would traditionally be stationed around the casket to keep it secure during the state viewing.
To show respect for the deceased, four members of an armed guard stand facing outward about a meter from the catafalque, with their heads bowed and their arms (weapon) reversed.
Ceremony of Laying Wreaths
Traditionally, people have laid flowers on graves and memorials as a way to honor the dead.
The recommended order of events for laying a wreath are as follows:
Wreath in right hand, proceed to the monument
To stop, pause, and then lay the wreath
Stand tall, take a few steps back, and relax
A second pause should be observed before the salute is given to military personnel.
Ignore them and leave.
