When the RSA first established Poppy Day in the 1920s, inspired by John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”, it took months by ship for the French-made poppies to reach New Zealand. In fact, the poppies arrived too late for the RSA’s first Poppy Appeal for Armistice Day 1921, although this ended up being fortuitous as the poppy would forever be associated with ANZAC Day – making New Zealand unique in the world (even in Australia the poppy is still not widely associated with ANZAC Day).
Now, in 2008, New Zealanders around the world can receive in seconds their own personal poppy – that distinctive Kiwi icon – thanks to the RSA’s new downloadable poppy for mobiles.
“The mobile poppy provides New Zealanders, and especially those overseas, with an opportunity to have this well-known symbol of remembrance for ANZAC Day and at the same time assist the welfare of war veterans back home all year round,” says RSA Public Relations Officer Dr Stephen Clarke.
“We are really grateful to Wellington-based company voeveo for helping us to bring the poppy, which embodies our core values of remembrance and welfare, into the 21st Century.”
"The whole team at voeveo is proud to help the RSA move into the mobile space with digital poppies,” says Annabel Youens, voeveo Community Director. “It's important to us that we're working with local and national charities to help them reach digital donators. My mobile poppy looks brilliant on my phone!"
The RSA and the digital poppy embodies the modern trend of remembrance with digital remembrance books, online war graves databases, and a multitude of war remembrance websites.
To get your personal mobile poppy go to www.rsa.org.nz or www.voeveo.com