As the month of November unfolds itself, the red poppy flower pinned up to people’s coats becomes a distinctive element in the Commonwealth of Nations. November 11th marks the end of the World War I and each year this day is observed as\u00a0Rememberance Day honouring\u00a0the members of the commonwealth armed forces who have died in the line of duty.<\/p>\n

The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem In<\/a> Flan<\/a>ders<\/a> Fields<\/a>. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders<\/a> in World War I, their brilliant red colour became a symbol for the blood spilled in the war.<\/p>\n

Artist\u00a0Paul Cummins <\/strong>and stage designer Tom Piper<\/strong>\u00a0pay\u00a0their respect\u00a0to the brave and loyal soldiers through a\u00a0creative installation called\u00a0Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>The extraordinary installation consists of\u00a0888,246 ceramic poppies\u00a0that surround the Tower of London,\u00a0each representing a British and Commonwealth person who died during\u00a0the first world war.<\/p>\n

The incredible\u00a0installation spreads over an area of 16 acres, which is roughly equivalent to 250 tennis courts or 16 soccer fields. Handmade clay models of the poppy were created under close supervision of\u00a0Paul Cummins and the entire setting was designed by Tom Piper. A team of over 8000 volunteers worked round the clock to assemble each flower carefully in its assigned\u00a0place.<\/p>\n

Designer Tom Piper said, \u201cIt does look very beautiful, but people are beautiful and our human life force is beautiful. So it is a good way of getting people to contemplate all this loss of life.”<\/p>\n

While the first poppy was planted on August 5th, the first day of Britain’s full participation in the war, the last poppy will be planted on Remembrance Day tomorrow.<\/p>\n