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Wearing of the Poppy

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RAFBlueAllTheWay

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Happy with the regs regarding poppies, what side it should be worn etc, however, I got asked a question today by the SWO and I have no idea what the answer is. The AP and QR's were not much help, tells you that you can't do it, but not the reason why. So wondering if any SME's may have the answer:

Why can't RAF Personnel wear a poppy when on parade in their No 1 Uniform?

Answers gratefully received.
 
RAFBlueAllTheWay said:
Happy with the regs regarding poppies, what side it should be worn etc, however, I got asked a question today by the SWO and I have no idea what the answer is. The AP and QR's were not much help, tells you that you can't do it, but not the reason why. So wondering if any SME's may have the answer:

Why can't RAF Personnel wear a poppy when on parade in their No 1 Uniform?

Answers gratefully received.
Click to expand...

I believe the reason to be that Poppies are not part of the military uniform and therefor we're not permitted to wear tham on Parade with No 1's unless specifically requested that they are worn by the parade commander.
 
AP 1358 details which emblems may be worn with uniform, see para 0132 here. Regs at every unit I have served at have consistently been:

In No. 1 dress, in order to avoid conflict with medals or ribbons, the poppy should be worn on the right, directly above and central to the right breast pocket. If a greatcoat is worn then it should be worn in the button-hole on the left lapel. Regardless of the AP's direction a poppy is usually worn by all personnel attending remembrance parades.

In No. 2 dress the poppy is worn on the right on the shirt fixed above the breast pocket and on the left breast of the jumper, it should not be worn with the GPJ or gortex because the pin will damage the waterproofing.

In CS95 it should be worn on the right on the shirt and smock.

In No. 5 dress it may be worn on the left breast to avoid damage to the lapels and where it will not interfere with medals, but there are generally no hard and fast rules.

In civilian clothing the poppy is always worn on the left, unless decorations are worn.
 
Dave-exfairy said:
Another thing is, why don't the RAF wear their poppys like the Army do, behind the beret badge?
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Because (in my opinion) it looks sh*t. Plus a beret is normally not worn in a working environment meaning it wouldn't be on show for very long.
 
As most appos, did a few London parades. As I recall, we didnt wear them at all. No idea why.
 
monobrow said:

Because (in my opinion) it looks sh*t. Plus a beret is normally not worn in a working environment meaning it wouldn't be on show for very long.
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I think it looks quite good, IMO and if you're in an aircraft working enviroment the poppy wouldn't be on show for very long if it was worn either way.
 
RAFBlueAllTheWay said:
Why can't RAF Personnel wear a poppy when on parade in their No 1 Uniform?
Click to expand...

You can, as already mentioned by DBRL. Be interesting to know why your SWO thinks you can't.

Great SWO you've got if he thinks you can't. Hope he's got no involvement in planning parades over Remembrance weekend.
 
Before jumping in with two feet you might want to have a look at the latest minutes from the Raf Dress and Clothing Policy meeting. It makes reference to QR J8.132 which states that personnel on parade at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday or other similar parades are not to wear Poppies.
 
I did a parade a few years ago and we were made to wear poppies with our No.1s. After we had finished the whole place looked like Flanders fields… I don’t think there was a single person who still had their poppy attached at the end.
 
JPABitch said:
Before jumping in with two feet you might want to have a look at the latest minutes from the Raf Dress and Clothing Policy meeting. It makes reference to QR J8.132 which states that personnel on parade at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday or other similar parades are not to wear Poppies.
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Thats furry emuff but that doesnt detract from the fact that you can wear poppies in Ones, and certainly in my part of the world, parade personnel will be issued with poppies. Considering my current employment, I would hope that a blanket policy change would have been promulgated to our office.
 
MyShineyAr$e said:
You can, as already mentioned by DBRL. Be interesting to know why your SWO thinks you can't.

Great SWO you've got if he thinks you can't. Hope he's got no involvement in planning parades over Remembrance weekend.
Click to expand...

Is this a SWO at a certain Lincs flying base that is home to the flying teabag?

If it is...what a (ock he is!
 
scopie182 said:
I did a parade a few years ago and we were made to wear poppies with our No.1s. After we had finished the whole place looked like Flanders fields… I don’t think there was a single person who still had their poppy attached at the end.
Click to expand...

And that is the reason that poppies are not worn on parade. They have to be worn on the right hand side to de-conflict with medals etc and can get in the way when doing rifle drill - almost invariably becoming detached. To avoid such questions though an amendment to the AP1358 seems a fair idea.
 
So, in short, the answer is:

Emblems should be of conventional dimensions and are to be worn immediately above the right breast pocket of the No 1 SD jacket and in the corresponding position on warm-weather dresses, jerseys, CS95 field jacket and shirts
 
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That about answers that one. Army wear um behind Beret so they don't get knocked off when wearing webbing and crawling around.:PDT_Xtremez_35:
 
Thanks to all for your answers and thoughts, thus far. The unit in question is not a certain Lincs unit you will (possibly) be glad to hear.

Having referred to the AP on his behalf, I believe it contradicts itself somewhat in that it states, to the effect of 'may be worn unless on parade'. Remembrance is a parade and thus means we cannot wear them.

However, in the sub-para it states that they may be worn with No1 dress. Now, there are not many instances of when you would be wearing No1 dress, but the main one that springs to mind is obviously, Remembrance parade.

I therefore return to square one! Our parade will be an unarmed parade, however, personnel will be marching and I agree with previous posts in that we are likely to leave a trail of poppies behind us.

Any more ideas for me to consider? Oh, the SWO is new so is trying to learn all this on the fly. Actually a top bloke, and at least he is trying to do it the right way rather than fly by the seat of his pants - gotta give him credit for that. Too often in the past this Unit has just made things up on the corner of a fag packet!

Thanks again to all your replies/suggestions/input etc, etc so far.
 
If you aren't carrying rifles then wear the poppy and use two pins to secure it. I was at our local Remembrance Parade last year, all on parade wore a poppy (without rifles) and not one of them fell off.
 
Poppies -change of position

Poppies -change of position

As an Ex Airman, poppies were always worn in the left breast pocket whereas the Army wore theirs behind their capbadge. However this year the Army are now wearing theirs in their No 2 /No 1 at the same position as the RAF.
 
JPABitch said:
Before jumping in with two feet you might want to have a look at the latest minutes from the Raf Dress and Clothing Policy meeting. It makes reference to QR J8.132 which states that personnel on parade at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday or other similar parades are not to wear Poppies.
Click to expand...

In which case, the sponsors should be taken outside, placed against the nearest wall etc etc etc.

Shocking to think that they would even contemplate this!

I for one would prefer to be charged for being incorrectly dressed when wearing one on Nov 11th. Watch that one go to the AOC!
 
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