Poppies will make them sleep...

 The bright red flower (and the white) has symbolized death, dreams, and oblivion for many thousands of years before Flanders Fields made it ubiquitous in modern culture.

 A field of poppies was said to stand before the entrance to the gates of the underworld realm of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams and son of Hypnos. The poppy origin in Greek mythology is said to have come from Demeter/Ceres. Hypnos/Somnus, god of sleep, created it for her when she needed rest while searching for Persephone. The name corn poppy comes from this, as she was the goddess of grain. They have compounds that ancients used for a sleep and grief tonic and are still used in modern medicine.

Minoan "Poppy Goddess" c. 1300-1250 B.C.E.

 The poppy has also been associated with several other goddesses, among them Nyx, Aphorodite, and the Minoan poppy goddess.
 In Asian legend, (white) poppies sprang from the battle fields. This is noted in historical writings on the battle fields of Ghengis Khan, and also on fields after the Napoleonic wars. The fields John McCrae wrote of after WWI were covered in the red blooms. Was it a sign from Morpheus of the journey they were taking? A gift from Hypnos?

 Chances are, there wasn't a magical or divine presence making poppies grow after the war. The activity of battle likely churned up soil, stirring already deposited seeds and even adding nutrients like iron and sulfur that poppies require for germination and blooming. Imagine looking across a bleak battle field littered with casualties. The uniforms and equipment are almost always a neutral color, blending into surroundings by design. Now, take into account that solid, bright colors are easiest for human cones to detect, with red being the color most strongly detected. It is also the color humans will notice psychologically before any other, as it is the color of blood. It warns us of danger, and contrasts with most of its natural surroundings.

 It was a beautiful poem that gave solace to those in deep grief and to honor many taken by war.
As you see, poppies have a very long history of solace.

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 Today the red poppy is almost universally known as the symbol for honoring fallen soldiers.
There are other colors you can use to recognize groups in memoriam.

Black- African and Caribbean descent soldiers
Purple- War Animals (often overlooked!)
White- honoring those fallen and a commitment to peace.


 The language of flowers varies throughout cultures, but the poppy has a fairly strong theme. Comfort, sleep, imagination, dreams, death, and lovers. Humans are pretty great at figuring out handy correlations, especially when it comes to our opiate receptors.