Flanders Poppies Belgian chenille tapestry features a single poppy that is not the Oriental poppy, with its opiate of forgetfulness, but the European field poppy. It signifies remembrance, and specifically, remembrance of our war dead. The seeds can lay dormant for years, sprouting only when the soil is disturbed. They were remarked upon as early as Napoleon?€?s campaigns, but became a lasting symbol after World War II. This was made legendary in the poem written by Canadian medical officer John McCrae ?€?In Flanders fields the poppies blow?€?.