Canadians pay their respects on Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, commemorates the sacrifice of veterans and civilians of World War I, World War II and other wars. 

On this day, churches across Canada and elsewhere incorporate one or two minutes of silence into their services at the precise time that World War I ended in 1918-the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Thousands of Canadians, among them war veterans, pay their respects to fallen soldiers at official ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. Commemoration ceremonies are held in many local communities.

In the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day, support for veterans is demonstrated by Canadians who purchase and wear an artificial poppy on their lapels. The emblem was inspired by the poignant poem, In Flanders Fields, in which Canadian military physician John McCrae described poppies blooming across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders, Belgium.