‘Poppy shamers’ are spreading false rumours about wearing your poppy in public

Wearing a red poppy in the month of November is a voluntary gesture that allows us to commemorate those who gave their lives in war so we can live freely.

Pinning the red paper flower to a coat, shirt or jacket in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday (or Armistice Day, depending on what falls later) is a symbol of respect and gratitude, and for many it endures as one of Britain's most important traditions. It is not compulsory. Buy one and wear it with pride if you feel it's the right thing to do - refrain if you take issue with the meaning, as some do. But every year the same squabbles seems to surface as to where, why and how the paper poppy should appropriately be worn. There are those who say you should always wear a poppy on the left, so it's closest to your heart. There's an argument that men should wear theirs on the left, women on the right, as is traditional with a badge or a brooch. And another suggestion, which has predictably been doing the rounds on social media, is that the leaf should point to the 11 o'clock position to signify the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - the date and time that World War One formally ended. https://twitter.com/sunkfarmer/status/790298164008026112 https://twitter.com/rowanjrivers/status/793354760846016512 https://twitter.com/davpaul80/status/793355798281871360 https://twitter.com/linderlooo/status/793162909052461056 https://twitter.com/papatony7/status/792862337413816320 https://twitter.com/Welshtabby/status/792799665389441024 If you want to uphold any of these ideas, then go right ahead. In truth, though, none of them are in any way conditions of poppy-wearing. In the case of the 11 o'clock leaf, it's an urban myth. The official line consistently repeated by the Royal British Legion is that there is no wrong or right way to wear one. They only ask that anyone who chooses to wear one does so with pride. https://twitter.com/AlexShawESPN/status/793522872316821504 https://twitter.com/Footslogger/status/790530181555445760

@fishlf There's no right or wrong way Linda, what's most important is to wear it with pride :)

— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) October 28, 2016

https://twitter.com/Willmart647/status/793526451068932096 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=105&v=yFcAx7FC3GY

Featured image via Pete/Flickr