"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard among the guns below."
(In Flanders Fields, John McCrae)
The image features a brilliant red poppy, the flower we wear to remember the fallen. In the centre is the silhouette of a soldier. At the bottom sit the crosses, row on row. And at the top, under a grey sky, fly the larks, still bravely singing.
It is Canada Post's tribute to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Dr. John McCrae from Guelph, Ontario, right after his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, succumbed to a hit by an 8 inch German shell. The poem served as a tribute to all of the Canadians who lost their lives at the World War I battle at Ypres Salient. In Flanders Fields has been recited, memorized, and memorialized by millions of Canadians. The Canadian stamp was issued in May of 2015 to mark the centennial of the famous poem. "One hundred years later, the power of its verses to evoke the horror of war remains as strong as the day they were written." (https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2015/05/03/in_flanders_fields&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps)
