Sydney harbour was alight with red poppies at sunrise this morning as the sails of the Sydney Opera House projected the iconic image to mark the commencement of Remembrance Day.

At cenotaphs in towns around the western plains veterans, family and community members will gather this morning for local Remembrance Day Services to honour the service and sacrifice of Australia’s servicemen and servicewomen.

A minute’s silence will be held at 11am to mark the moment on 11 November 1918 when the guns fell silent on the Western Front at the end of the First World War.

This year we also particularly acknowledge the service of our Korean veterans following the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice of the Korean War, as well as our Vietnam veterans who commemorated the 50th anniversary of the extraction from Saigon.

For more than a century, red poppies have been used as a symbol of community respect and recognition, marking the end of fighting in the First World War.

The poem below reminds us why the poppies are such a strong symbol for Remembrance Day.

The Inquisitive Mind of a Child

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?

Selling poppies in the town today.

The poppies, child are flowers of love.

For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?

Why not a beautiful rose?

Because my child, men fought an died

In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?

Why are the poppies so red?

Red is the colour of blood, my child.

The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.

Why does it have to be black?

Black, my child, is the symbol of grief,

For the men who never came back.

By why, Mummy are you crying so?

Your tears are giving you pain.

My tears are my fears for you my child,

For the world is forgetting again.

Author Unknown