Royal British Legion happy to accept old £1 coin throughout the Poppy Appeal

Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal

The Royal British Legion is happy to accept the old, round, £1 coin throughout the Poppy Appeal right up to Remembrance Sunday.

Around 150,000 Poppy collectors will be involved in this year's Poppy Appeal and they will gladly accept the old round pound coin as a donation.

The Royal British Legion is best known for the annual Poppy Appeal and its emblem, the red poppy. Every year, the Legion organises a countrywide network of Poppy Appeal collectors to meet huge public demand for poppies, the nation’s symbol of Remembrance.

The Poppy Appeal raises about half of the funds needed for our welfare work every year. It is most visible from the last week in October, when the Legion's lapel poppies are available to the public. Red poppies are worn proudly by the British public from the launch date until

Remembrance Sunday or 11 November, whichever is later.

Why the poppy?

World War I caused widespread devastation to areas of Northern France and Belgium, but the poppy flowered every year. It brought colour and hope to the devastated landscape.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Armed Forces was deeply moved by what he saw. Inspired by the poppies, he wrote the poem – ‘In Flanders’ Fields’.

Poppies were first suggested as a symbol of Remembrance in the USA by Miss Moina Michael in November 1918. They were adopted by the American Legion in 1920.

In August 1921, Madame Guerin introduced her poppies, made by a French-American charity's widow, to the British Legion. The next suitable occasion for a poppy-linked appeal was Armistice Day, and so the first Poppy Appeal was born.