Red poppy in Europe. New format of Victory Day and red poppies as a symbol of memory and reconciliation. Unusual menu items

What do red poppies symbolize? We can answer with almost complete certainty that many of us have never asked this question in our lives. But the huge fiery “sea”, on which the wind creates scarlet waves, is a sight so beautiful that you can look at it endlessly. Among all peoples and at all times, this flower has been a multifaceted symbol. There are many legends and myths about it; it was dedicated to the gods and used in medicine. Red poppy - a symbol of what? What did it mean in antiquity, in the East, and in our time? It's time to find out about it.

Egypt

For the inhabitants of this country, the flower was a symbol of youth, feminine beauty and charm. Once upon a time, peasants near Thebes cultivated the type of poppy that is grown here today. The upper classes could guess that the flower had narcotic properties, and ordinary people calmed down with poppy water and used it as a painkiller. Because of its beauty, the poppy became a symbol of Egyptian burials, and even today the flowers are found in tombs.

Antiquity

We can say that in Ancient Rome and Hellas this flower was revered most of all; it is from there that several legends about its origin come from. According to one legend, Venus cried for a long time after the death of Adonis; nothing could calm her down. And every tear of hers turned into a poppy. It's sad, of course, but the red poppy is a symbol of what else? According to another legend, the poppy was created by Hypnos in order to calm Demeter, whose daughter was kidnapped by Hades. Hypnos gave her a decoction of this flower to drink, and she was comforted. Even today, her statues are decorated with these scarlet flowers. At the same time, the poppy was also a symbol of fertility due to the good germination of seeds.

East

In Persian culture, the poppy is a symbol of happiness, eternal love, joy; the wild flower hinted at the desire for an intimate relationship. Buddhists were firmly convinced that the poppy appeared after the falling asleep Buddha touched the ground with his eyelashes. B was associated with success, beauty, relaxation and distance from the hustle and bustle. However, it later became a symbol of available women and brothels. In the early 19th century, after the Opium War, smoking this drug became so popular that the flower became associated with evil and decay.

Red poppy - a symbol of what in the Middle Ages?

In its bloodthirsty and gloomy traditions, Christianity declared the poppy to be a sign that the Last Judgment would soon come. The flower, according to the beliefs of that time, recalled the terrible suffering of Christ, and was also a symbol of indifference and ignorance. On the day when the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place, churches were decorated with poppies, and children carried flowers and scattered petals during the procession. Next came the priest with the holy gifts. In the 16th century, a treatise by the physician Theodorus Jacobus appeared warning that the seeds of the flower and its other parts should not be consumed excessively.

New time

There was a belief that it was not for nothing that red poppies grew on battlefields. They supposedly symbolize the blood of dead soldiers. This looked very plausible in the times after the First World War in Flanders. Then, after the burial of the dead soldiers, the fields suddenly turned scarlet. At that time, Professor Moina Michael turned the poppy into a symbol of charity. She sold flowers and gave the money to war veterans and disabled people.

Scarlet flower today

And today the red poppy is a symbol of what? For example, to this day this flower is the emblem of the British Legion. Every year in the fall, artificial flowers are sold as a reminder of those who died in armed conflicts and two world wars. In Ukraine, for example, poppy is associated with fertility and endless open spaces. Petals were sprinkled so that the young would have health and many children. Also in this country, red poppy has recently been used at all official events.

Tattoo with a scarlet flower

Everyone knows that flowers depicted on the body are of great importance. What does the red poppy mean in this case? A tattoo with this flower has always been associated with death or sleep. And these two concepts are too close to each other, for example, they often duplicate the state of death, so it is difficult to distinguish them. This is all very strange, and people have been thinking about solving the mystery for decades.

Another meaning of such a pattern on the body is truth, devotion, fidelity. When deciding to decorate your body with poppy seeds, think about whether it’s worth it. No matter what meaning you put into the drawing yourself, there will always be some secrets and meanings unknown to us.

Conclusion

As we see, history is rich not only in events, but also in such important legends and beliefs about Every nation interpreted this beautiful flower in its own way, the meanings are not just different for everyone, sometimes they even contradict each other. Let's dwell on the fact that this is a symbol of happiness, youth and fertility! Let's believe in the best - that means it will happen!

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History and significance

For the first time, the poppy color appears as a symbol in the poem by Canadian military doctor John McCrae “In Flanders Fields” (), which begins with words that in Russian translation sound like this:

The idea to use the red poppy as a symbol of memory belongs to Moine Michel, lecturer at the University of Georgia, USA. Impressed by McCrae's work, in November 1918 she wrote her own poem, " We'll keep the faith", where she vowed to always wear a red poppy in memory of those killed in the First World War. After 1918, Moina Michelle was involved in financial support for incapacitated war veterans. In order to raise the necessary funds, Michael proposed selling artificial silk poppies.

The symbol was first used by the American Legion to commemorate American soldiers killed during World War I. It is widespread in the Commonwealth countries - Great Britain and its former colonies, as well as in North America and Australia.

Usage

In Ukraine

The red poppy was first used in Ukraine in 2014 during events marking the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

The design of the Ukrainian red poppy was developed on the initiative of the National Television Company of Ukraine; the author of the symbol is Kharkov designer Sergei Mishakin, the work is permitted for free use for non-commercial purposes.

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Notes

Excerpt characterizing the Red Poppy (symbol)

- Well, what about the children?
“And the children will live, your Excellency: you can live with such gentlemen.”
- Well, what about my heirs? - said Pierre. “What if I get married... It could happen,” he added with an involuntary smile.
“And I dare to report: a good deed, your Excellency.”
“How easy he thinks it is,” thought Pierre. “He doesn’t know how scary it is, how dangerous it is.” Too early or too late... Scary!
- How would you like to order? Would you like to go tomorrow? – Savelich asked.
- No; I'll put it off a little. I'll tell you then. “Excuse me for the trouble,” said Pierre and, looking at Savelich’s smile, he thought: “How strange, however, that he does not know that now there is no Petersburg and that first of all it is necessary for this to be decided. However, he probably knows, but he’s only pretending. Talk to him? What does he think? - thought Pierre. “No, someday later.”
At breakfast, Pierre told the princess that he had been to Princess Marya yesterday and found there - can you imagine who? - Natalie Rostov.
The princess pretended that she did not see anything more extraordinary in this news than in the fact that Pierre had seen Anna Semyonovna.
- Do you know her? asked Pierre.
“I saw the princess,” she answered. “I heard that they were marrying her to young Rostov.” This would be very good for the Rostovs; They say they are completely ruined.
- No, do you know Rostov?
“I only heard about this story then.” Very sorry.
“No, she doesn’t understand or is pretending,” thought Pierre. “It’s better not to tell her either.”
The princess also prepared provisions for Pierre's journey.
“How kind they all are,” thought Pierre, “that now, when they probably couldn’t be more interested in this, they are doing all this. And everything for me; That’s what’s amazing.”
On the same day, the police chief came to Pierre with a proposal to send a trustee to the Faceted Chamber to receive the things that were now being distributed to the owners.
“This one too,” thought Pierre, looking into the police chief’s face, “what a nice, handsome officer and how kind!” Now he deals with such trifles. They also say that he is not honest and takes advantage of him. What nonsense! But why shouldn’t he use it? That's how he was raised. And everyone does it. And such a pleasant, kind face, and smiles, looking at me.”
Pierre went to dinner with Princess Marya.
Driving through the streets between the burned-out houses, he was amazed at the beauty of these ruins. The chimneys of houses and fallen walls, picturesquely reminiscent of the Rhine and the Colosseum, stretched, hiding each other, along the burnt blocks. The cab drivers and riders we met, the carpenters who cut the log houses, the traders and shopkeepers, all with cheerful, beaming faces, looked at Pierre and said as if: “Ah, here he is! Let's see what comes out of this."
Upon entering the house of Princess Marya, Pierre was filled with doubt as to the justice of the fact that he was here yesterday, saw Natasha and spoke with her. “Maybe I made it up. Maybe I’ll walk in and not see anyone.” But before he had time to enter the room, in his entire being, after the instant deprivation of his freedom, he felt her presence. She was wearing the same black dress with soft folds and the same hairstyle as yesterday, but she was completely different. If she had been like this yesterday when he entered the room, he could not have failed to recognize her for a moment.
She was the same as he had known her almost as a child and then as the bride of Prince Andrei. A cheerful, questioning gleam shone in her eyes; there was a gentle and strangely playful expression on her face.
Pierre had dinner and would have sat there all evening; but Princess Marya was going to the all-night vigil, and Pierre left with them.
The next day Pierre arrived early, had dinner and sat there all evening. Despite the fact that Princess Marya and Natasha were obviously pleased with the guest; despite the fact that the whole interest of Pierre’s life was now concentrated in this house, by the evening they had talked everything over, and the conversation constantly moved from one insignificant subject to another and was often interrupted. Pierre stayed up so late that evening that Princess Marya and Natasha looked at each other, obviously waiting to see if he would leave soon. Pierre saw this and could not leave. He felt heavy and awkward, but he kept sitting because he couldn’t get up and leave.

Let's talk about unhealthy food.

McDonald's is not in the best shape right now. At the end of 2013, global sales fell, and in 2014 and the beginning of 2015 the trend continued. McDonald's has lost ground among major fast food restaurants, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The crisis is real, even the general director was replaced. From March 1, the fast food chain was headed by Briton Steve Easterbrook, replacing Don Thompson, who left his post.

However, every customer visiting McDonald's in any country knows what to expect from him. You can eat a Big Mac with fries anywhere. But there are also surprises.

• America

At home, McDonald's is in deep stagnation. The corporation is clumsy, the lag behind the market is noticeable to the naked eye. Consumer tastes change, but fast food chains do not. Image is falling. McDonald's in the USA is like a restaurant for the poor - empty, with a corresponding contingent, in some establishments they even impose a time limit on food.

With the arrival of Steve Easterbrook, changes were certainly not long in coming. But not all of them led to the desired effect. McDonald's took on everything they could and looked at what the idea was. will take root. It didn't work out with the fish nuggets. And due to the increased menu, it has become more difficult for customers to make their choice. Due to changes in cooking technology, the waiting time for an order has increased, which also did not save the situation. Customers are leaving, and getting them back won't be easy.

Unusual menu items

• Europe

McDonald's is helping out the rest of the world; the chain is quite popular here. But even in this case, he needs to develop and improve. Recently, fast food at Frankfurt am Main airport switched to restaurant service. A waiter can come right up to the table with a tablet and accept your order. And then - collect it and bring it. At the same time, self-service terminals and cash register workers have not gone away.

The healthy eating trend has not gone unnoticed. In the same Germany they started selling burgers from 100% organic beef German and Austrian cows. Animals feed only on ecological meadows that do not contain pesticides.

If popular, such schemes will spread to other network points. And this applies not only to Europe, but also to other countries. All that remains is to figure out where to find so many ecologically clean pastures.

Unusual menu items

McDonald's is one of the most common foreign fast foods in China. Compared to other "street" food, the prices are quite high. But fast food remains one of the few sources coffee, which is difficult to find in China. Therefore, the fast food chain is invariably popular among foreigners who are tired of the peculiar Asian cuisine.

The menu is numbered, even without knowing the language you can literally place an order on your fingers. Service developed delivery, and not only McDonald's, but also other foreign fast foods, like KFC and Pizza Hut. They try to attract the interest of the indigenous population by adding dishes from local ingredients to the menu, which at first glance may seem strange.

Unusual menu items

• Africa

McDonald's can only be found in several African countries. The product range is complemented by dishes popular among the local population, such as McFalafel. As in other Muslim countries, during Ramadan a menu is available that fully complies with religious principles.

Africa

Egyptian McDonald's left the impression of a noisy and dirty place. But even there, the menu is more extensive than the Russian one.

Unusual menu items

In this country it's really the other way around. It is convenient to monitor a small, isolated market, which is why many innovations are tested in Australia. The first McCafe was opened there in 1993 in Melbourne. Now, in the same city, an official food delivery service has appeared (this is not an innovation, but it is quite rare).

At Australian McDonald's, you can create an order through an application on your smartphone, and then show the QR code to the cashier. They will bring you food without any problems. You can even design your own burger from the ingredients available to choose from.

In Sydney, one of the McCafés was turned into a restaurant. healthy cuisine The Corner. It lacks the usual burgers, which are replaced by salads, lentils, rice and chicken breast.

Unusual menu items

For the first time, Ukraine officially begins a new tradition of celebrating May 8 and 9 in the European spirit of memory and reconciliation.

Author - artist Oleksa Rudenko, engraving by Georgy Malakov

At the same time, another date will be added - September 2 – 70th anniversary of the end of World War II .

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance notes that the new meaning of celebrating the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation and Victory Day includes:

– rethinking the events of the Second World War, destroying Soviet historical myths, honest dialogue around the difficult pages of the past;

– equal honoring of the memory of everyone who fought against Nazism, emphasizing the solidarity and fighting brotherhood of all the United Nations, both states and then stateless peoples (Jews, Ukrainians, etc.);

- shifting the emphasis from the history of military operations to the stories of specific people, and then abandoning celebration in favor of veneration.

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Symbol of celebrating the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation and Victory Day - Red poppy. This is an international symbol of remembrance for the victims of all military and civil armed conflicts, an allusion to the bloody trail of a bullet, conveying suffering and death.

The use of the red poppy flower as a symbol of remembrance originated in the poem "In Flanders Fields" (1915) by Canadian military doctor John McCrae. The symbol of the poppy is also present in Ukrainian folklore - according to legend, poppies bloom where the blood of the Cossacks was shed.

"In Flanders Fields"

Fields in Flanders, poppies rustle here

Between the crosses, where on a row there is a row

He designated a place for us; in the sky, on the fly,

The larks chirp boldly that song,

She is inaudible among the guns that thunder below.

We're all dead. But just days ago,

We lived, met the sunrise and sunset,

We loved as loved ones, but now we lie

In the fields in Flanders.

Rise up and fight the enemy:

From weakening hands we now give it to you

The torch is yours, hold it high.

If you leave faith when we are far away,

Where poppies grow, we won't sleep

In the fields in Flanders.

The use of the Soviet-imperial symbol of Victory Day - the "St. George Ribbon" - has been discredited by participants in the current Russian aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, the “St. George’s ribbon” is not officially prohibited in Ukraine at the state level.

Ukrainian Institute of National Memory

In World War II, Ukrainians suffered more casualties than Great Britain, Canada, the United States and France combined. The total losses of Ukraine in this war are estimated at 8-10 million lives. The number of Ukrainian victims is comparable to the population of modern Austria.

Ukrainians of Transcarpathia were the first in interwar Europe who did not accept the annexation of their territory. With arms in hand, they stood up to defend their freedom from aggression in March 1939. From September 1, 1939, Luftwaffe planes bombed Galicia and Volyn.

During World War II, fighting swept across the entire territory of Ukraine twice. Kharkov, one of the largest cities in Ukraine, changed hands four times.

Ukrainians turned into cannon fodder for two dictators at once - Hitler and Stalin. Every third person died in the Red Army (compared to every 20th in the British Army). The reason for such a terrible situation was simple - Stalin did not take into account any losses, based on the logic “Women are still giving birth!”

Poppy is the pride of the Czech Republic. Its cultivation is one of the most important farming activities in the country. In the poppy trade market, the Czech Republic leads with great superiority, ahead of Turkey and France. The main thing is that Czech poppy varieties are not raw materials for opium production, but a food additive.

While in the East poppy is cultivated primarily to produce opium, in Europe the main poppy products are seeds and oil. The poppy crop is of industrial importance both in the Czech Republic and in neighboring European countries. The Balkans are a kind of “bridge” in the poppy industry between the West and the East: both oilseed and opium poppies are grown there.

Poppy traditions of the Czech Republic

It is believed that the poppy culture in the Czech Republic is indeed very ancient: poppies have been grown here since the ninth century. But the mass distribution and cultivation of this plant began only at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The growth in poppy consumption was facilitated by a catastrophic crop failure on olive plantations in Southern France - it was necessary to replace olive oil with something.

In 1896, poppy was already grown on an area of ​​1,700 hectares, most of all in Central Bohemia, near Prague, as well as near the cities of Tábor and Časlav. From that time on, the poppy plantations gradually expanded. Today, poppy fields in the Czech Republic cover more than 60,000 hectares, most of which are located in Moravia and the east of the Czech Republic.

Buns with poppy seeds and heroin

More than ninety percent of poppy grown is usually exported to the Czech Republic, and its largest consumers are Russia, Poland and Ukraine. For example, in 2014, poppy worth 963 billion crowns was exported to Russia. And this is not surprising, because in Slavic countries poppy seeds are often used in national cuisine recipes, especially in baking. Poppy is in greatest demand during religious holidays - Christmas and Easter, when the seeds become a traditional food additive. In the Czech Republic itself, poppy seeds are also added to baked goods, as well as to porridge. The average Czech, according to food statistics, eats about two hundred grams of poppy seeds per year.

For natives of Western Europe, the Slavs’ love for poppy may even seem wild, because everyone knows that heroin is obtained from this plant. Narcotic substances are contained in condensed milky juice, which is obtained from poppy seeds only by hand, by cutting unripe poppy pods. For this reason, poppy cultivation is prohibited in most Western countries.

Over the course of two hundred years of experiments with poppy, Czech agronomists managed to develop new varieties with better seeds that no longer contain as many alkaloids as, say, Turkish poppy. Despite this, in the Czech Republic there are strict rules for growing poppy: with a sown area of ​​more than one hundred square meters, the farmer must register his field with the customs committee. Plus, waste containing morphine alkaloids must be destroyed in such a way that this process can be controlled.

However, there have never been any known cases of poppy abuse in the Czech Republic. For comparison: in neighboring Poland, the cultivation of poppy was prohibited precisely because of numerous cases of poppy being used “for other purposes.”

Poppy in pharmaceuticals

Thanks to morphine, which is formed in poppy pulp, the plant is also used for medicinal purposes. Thus, poppy production is virtually waste-free. The European Union provides farmers with subsidies only on the condition that all poppy pulp is removed from the field. Valuable poppy waste is bought from farmers by the pharmaceutical company Zentiva, the owner of a poppy processing plant in the city of Glogowiec.

One of the reasons for the development of the poppy industry in the Czech Republic is the original technologies used by local farmers, which significantly reduce the cost per hectare of sowing. Poppy is collected using machines, then the plant is thoroughly cleaned of impurities that can serve as narcotic raw materials. If the poppy seed is poorly cleaned, then it contains particles of stems, leaves and bolls, which means, although in a very weak concentration, strong active substances - alkaloids.

When the poppy is in bloom, the fields are guarded, and people with criminal intentions usually do not have the opportunity to use parts of the plants from which drugs are produced. Despite the fact that opium poppy is not grown in the Czech Republic, when the plant ripens, entire groups of drug addicts, as well as simply curious people, sometimes come to the fields to cut off a couple of poppy heads. Narcologist Ivan Douda spoke about this in an interview with Radio Prague: “I have been working in this field for decades and I know that every year at this time some of our clients leave for poppy fields somewhere. When the poppy is ripe and the juice is no longer available, they return to the city. Perhaps there is a placebo effect here? People simply believe that the Czech poppy also contains opium.”

Be that as it may, Czech poppy is considered one of the most harmless in the world. And the Czech poppy industry continues to gain momentum, remaining a record holder in this area of ​​production, despite crop failures and droughts that often hit Czech fields.

Photo: www.ubgarden.com