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Every year the British Legion sells red paper poppies to raise money for men and women.
The organization has done so every year since 1921, when it is suggested that the American religion be brought to the fore.
Michael took inspiration from the 1915 poem "In Flanders Fields" by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian doctor who had died in Ypres that May.
The poet himself saw the bright red wildflower as a symbol of hope amidst the carnage of modern warfare as it continued to grow when the fields were torn apart by shellfire and tank tracks.
In Flanders Fields The Poppies Blow
Between the sticks, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below …
If ye break with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
1/30
The moat of the Tower of London filled with thousands of lit torches as part of the installation 'Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers', marking the centenary of the end of the First World War
Reuters
2/30
Poppy tribute outside Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh
PA
3/30
36,000 leaf-shaped messages are hung from St. Patrick's Cathedral ceiling in Dublin, remembering the 36,000 Irish men and women who died in World War I
PA
4/30
Color Sgt Paul Harris of the 3pwr reservists salutes beneath a wooden sculpture of a First World War in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent following a service of dedication for their Field of Remembrance
PA
5/30
Staff from Cardiff Castle dressed in period WWI dress, look around the newly opened Commonwealth War Graves Commission replica cemetery and exhibition, which has been installed at the castle to mark the centenary of Armistice. The 330 headstones located in the courtyard of 30,000 Welsh men and women who gave their lives during the First World War
PA
6/30
The Weeping Window poppy installation, by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, is pictured outside the Imperial War Museum in London, ahead of Armistice Day. Weeping Window is a cascade of several thousand handmade ceramic poppies seen from below
AFP / Getty
7/30
Yeoman of the Guard light the first torches
Getty
8/30
Three men take a moment to look at the Lions of the Great War monument in Smethwick, West Midlands. The 10-foot high bronze figure of a Sikh soldier is the UK's first statue of a World War Soldier from South Asia, and commemorates 100 years since the end of the war
PA
9/30
Veterans waits for the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens
PA
10/30
Chelsea Pensioner Roy Palmer, aged 79, in his ceremonial uniform as a retired member of the British army with 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, for the 'There But Not Not So' campaign to commemorate the upcoming centenary of the end of World War I. World War I ended on November 11, 1918 and 'There But Not There' is the 2018 Armistice project for the charity Remembered
AP
11/30
Yeoman Warders, known as 'Beefeaters' light the first of thousands of flames in a lighting ceremony
AFP / Getty
12/30
Sixteen thousand poppies have been installed on Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh to mark the centenary of armistice at the end of the First World War
PA
13/30
Soldiers from 3RSME, the Royal School of Military Engineering, look at a piece called 'Lost Soldiers', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Montgomery Square in Canary Wharf, London, as part of its Remembrance Art Trail to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War
PA
14/30
The Swindon Borough Council Tommy's silhouette on display inside St Augustine's Church, Wiltshire, where 1300 poppies hang from the roof to represent the world during World War I
PA
15/30
93-year-old veteran Elizabeth Mitchell lays a wreath at the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens
PA
16/30
'The Haunting', a six-meter high sculpture depicting a weary First World War soldier, on display in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, after it's official unveiling to commemorate the centenary of the ending of World War I
PA
17/30
Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Gregory, Master Gunner of St James's Park, reads a section of the Royal Artillery's Armistice Roll of Honor, containing the names of their fallen World War One comrades, in the Morning Chapel inside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire
PA
18/30
Volunteers light torches that are part of the 'Beyond the Deepening Shadow' installation at the Tower of London
Reuters
19/30
A soldier from 3RSME, the Royal School of Military Engineering, looks at a piece called 'Lost Armies', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Jubilee Park in Canary Wharf
PA
20/30
A Chelsea Pensioner stands with 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign
AP
21/30
Luke, Nathan and Frankie from Hornchurch and Upminster Sea Cadets, look at a piece called 'ANA', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Adams Plaza in Canary Wharf
PA
22/30
Thousands of Flames in the Tower of London
PA
23/30
The figure of a First World War soldier sits on a central reservation in Woolton Village, Liverpool Marking the cemtenary of the end of the war
PA
24/30
Crosses and poppies in the Garden of Remembrance in Princes Street Gardens
PA
25/30
British General Lord Richard Dannatt, front center, the retired former Chief of the General Staff, head of the British Army, poses for a group photographed with Chelsea Pensioners, Serving Soldiers, Serving Airmen and Women, Royal Navy reservists 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign
AP
26/30
A Yeoman of the Guard stands between lit torches
Reuters
27/30
Canon Nick Fennemore, Chaplain of Winchester Cathedral, looks at the woollen poppies hung on the railings outside the Cathedral in Hampshire to recall the poppy fields of Flanders. The installation will remain until 19 November, as part of First World War commemorations
PA
28/30
The UK Parliament and German Bundestag choirs commemorate the centenary of the Armistice which ended the First World War, at the Houses of Parliament
PA
29/30
Members of the public at the unveiling of a new war memorial in Hamilton Square in Birkenhead. The bronze statue of an exhausted soldier, created by Jim Wheelen and The Birkenhead Institute Old Boys, was inspired by poet Wilfred Owen who died in the First World War 100 years ago today
30/30
The St Paul's Cathedral Remembrance Field, which was opened to commemorate the end of the First World War 100 years ago
PA
1/30
The moat of the Tower of London filled with thousands of lit torches as part of the installation 'Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers', marking the centenary of the end of the First World War
Reuters
2/30
Poppy tribute outside Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh
PA
3/30
36,000 leaf-shaped messages are hung from St. Patrick's Cathedral ceiling in Dublin, remembering the 36,000 Irish men and women who died in World War I
PA
4/30
Color Sgt Paul Harris of the 3pwr reservists salutes beneath a wooden sculpture of a First World War in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent following a service of dedication for their Field of Remembrance
PA
5/30
Staff from Cardiff Castle dressed in period WWI dress, look around the newly opened Commonwealth War Graves Commission replica cemetery and exhibition, which has been installed at the castle to mark the centenary of Armistice. The 330 headstones located in the courtyard of 30,000 Welsh men and women who gave their lives during the First World War
PA
6/30
The Weeping Window poppy installation, by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, is pictured outside the Imperial War Museum in London, ahead of Armistice Day. Weeping Window is a cascade of several thousand handmade ceramic poppies seen from below
AFP / Getty
7/30
Yeoman of the Guard light the first torches
Getty
8/30
Three men take a moment to look at the Lions of the Great War monument in Smethwick, West Midlands. The 10-foot high bronze figure of a Sikh soldier is the UK's first statue of a World War Soldier from South Asia, and commemorates 100 years since the end of the war
PA
9/30
Veterans waits for the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens
PA
10/30
Chelsea Pensioner Roy Palmer, aged 79, in his ceremonial uniform as a retired member of the British army with 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, for the 'There But Not Not So' campaign to commemorate the upcoming centenary of the end of World War I. World War I ended on November 11, 1918 and 'There But Not There' is the 2018 Armistice project for the charity Remembered
AP
11/30
Yeoman Warders, known as 'Beefeaters' light the first of thousands of flames in a lighting ceremony
AFP / Getty
12/30
Sixteen thousand poppies have been installed on Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh to mark the centenary of armistice at the end of the First World War
PA
13/30
Soldiers from 3RSME, the Royal School of Military Engineering, look at a piece called 'Lost Soldiers', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Montgomery Square in Canary Wharf, London, as part of its Remembrance Art Trail to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War
PA
14/30
The Swindon Borough Council Tommy's silhouette on display inside St Augustine's Church, Wiltshire, where 1300 poppies hang from the roof to represent the world during World War I
PA
15/30
93-year-old veteran Elizabeth Mitchell lays a wreath at the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens
PA
16/30
'The Haunting', a six-meter high sculpture depicting a weary First World War soldier, on display in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, after it's official unveiling to commemorate the centenary of the ending of World War I
PA
17/30
Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Gregory, Master Gunner of St James's Park, reads a section of the Royal Artillery's Armistice Roll of Honor, containing the names of their fallen World War One comrades, in the Morning Chapel inside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire
PA
18/30
Volunteers light torches that are part of the 'Beyond the Deepening Shadow' installation at the Tower of London
Reuters
19/30
A soldier from 3RSME, the Royal School of Military Engineering, looks at a piece called 'Lost Armies', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Jubilee Park in Canary Wharf
PA
20/30
A Chelsea Pensioner stands with 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign
AP
21/30
Luke, Nathan and Frankie from Hornchurch and Upminster Sea Cadets, look at a piece called 'ANA', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Adams Plaza in Canary Wharf
PA
22/30
Thousands of Flames in the Tower of London
PA
23/30
The figure of a First World War soldier sits on a central reservation in Woolton Village, Liverpool Marking the cemtenary of the end of the war
PA
24/30
Crosses and poppies in the Garden of Remembrance in Princes Street Gardens
PA
25/30
British General Lord Richard Dannatt, front center, the retired former Chief of the General Staff, head of the British Army, poses for a group photographed with Chelsea Pensioners, Serving Soldiers, Serving Airmen and Women, Royal Navy reservists 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign
AP
26/30
A Yeoman of the Guard stands between lit torches
Reuters
27/30
Canon Nick Fennemore, Chaplain of Winchester Cathedral, looks at the woollen poppies hung on the railings outside the Cathedral in Hampshire to recall the poppy fields of Flanders. The installation will remain until 19 November, as part of First World War commemorations
PA
28/30
The UK Parliament and German Bundestag choirs commemorate the centenary of the Armistice which ended the First World War, at the Houses of Parliament
PA
29/30
Members of the public at the unveiling of a new war memorial in Hamilton Square in Birkenhead. The bronze statue of an exhausted soldier, created by Jim Wheelen and The Birkenhead Institute Old Boys, was inspired by poet Wilfred Owen who died in the First World War 100 years ago today
30/30
The St Paul's Cathedral Remembrance Field, which was opened to commemorate the end of the First World War 100 years ago
PA
Wilfred Owen, perhaps Britain's most admired war poet, also commented on the contrast between the beauty of the countryside and the gore of battle in his 1918 poem "Spring Offensive".
Common misconceptions about the lapel pin include that it is intended as an endorsement of war or that its color is intended to represent bloodshed.
White poppies, sold by the Peace Pledge Union since 1933, are also sometimes used as an expression of pacificism by those concerned about the red's co-option by nationalistic right-wing groups.
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For this year's centenary Armistice Day, many poppies have been used to build impressive installations at churches and statues around the country. The Tower of London is just one example.
The Imperial War Museum's "Weeping Window" display, the war horse in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral and the leaf-shaped messages hanging in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, are also particularly resonant.
