Poppy Day

For over 85 years Poppy Day has been an annual event usually held on the Friday before ANZAC Day.

It is the most important fundraising appeal of the year for the RSA, providing funds specifically for the assistance of returned servicemen and women and their dependants in need.

On Poppy Day RSA volunteers throughout New Zealand offer red poppy buttonholes in exchange for donations to the RSA Welfare Fund.

Poppy Day Appeal 2009

All the news and events relating to the 2009 Poppy Day Appeal.

Poppy Day Today

The annual Poppy Day Appeal embodies the core values of the RSA — remembrance and welfare.

Significance of the Poppy

The remarkable story of how the Poppy became an international symbol of remembrance for fallen servicemen and women begins with the publication of Canadian John McCrae's poem, "In Flanders Fields", in 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row ...

History of Poppy Day

The first Poppy Day Appeal was held in New Zealand in 1922, which makes it one of the oldest nationwide appeals in the country. The style of the poppy has evolved over time but the meaning has remained constant — remembrance and welfare.