What have red poppies got to do with WW1?

Answer 1

Poppies actually came from WWI, not WWII. There was a major battle on Flanders Fields where thousands lost their lives. After the battle poppies grew where the men had died and a poem was written called "Flanders Field"

Here is the text of that poem

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 amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Ever since then, veterans have sold poppies at the entrances to stores as a way to raise money for disabled veterans groups and now the poppies stand for all veterans of all wars.

Answer 2

The use of the poppy was inspired by the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields". Its opening lines refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers' graves in Flanders, a region of Europe that overlies a part of Belgium.