ELIZABETH JACKSON: Well, of course it's Remembrance Day, and many Australians will be proudly wearing the Flanders poppy to remember those who've fought in wars and to raise funds of course for the RSL (Returned Services League).

But in Britain, wearing the symbol has gone to a whole new level.

Almost without exception, TV presenters are obliged to wear poppies for at least a full fortnight before November 11, and celebrities have even worn so-called designer poppies.

It's prompted at least one high-profile newsman to call it poppy fascism.

Here's our Europe correspondent Mary Gearin.

ANNOUNCER: I can now officially declare the poppy appeal open.

(Cheers, band starts performing)

MARY GEARIN: It's October 24 and a concert at Trafalgar Square launches the annual poppy appeal.

And in Britain, it's a big deal.

Forty-five million paper flowers will go on sale, with the aim this year of raising more than $64 million for British service personnel and their families.

And from this moment on, everyone in the country is under subtle and not-so-subtle pressure to buy and wear the floral emblem every day until Remembrance Day, as singer Pixie Lott explains:

PIXIE LOTT: There is people out there fighting for us now, the younger generation, and I think we should wear the poppies to say thank you to them for the sacrifice that they make for our country.

MARY GEARIN: No-one questions the purpose or value of the poppy appeal.

But what some in Britain are finding hard to accept is the increasing pressure to display one's poppy.

In fact, it's seen as tantamount to treason not to wear one.

Presenters and contestants on the UK's version of 'X Factor' have worn crystal-studded poppies.

One celebrity judge even fashioned her poppy into a hair clip.

British TV journalists reported from Hurricane Sandy in the US, pelted with rain and straining against the wind, with paper poppies still bravely clinging to their anoraks.

The most famous figure to buck this trend is Channel Four's veteran newsman Jon Snow.

Despite being one of the nation's most respected journalists, he's pilloried on an annual basis for his refusal to wear the emblem on air.

I spoke to him as he was in the US reporting on the election, his lapel proudly poppy-free.

JON SNOW: No I haven't been wearing a poppy, no I haven't.

MARY GEARIN: And why is that?

JON SNOW: Well, I mean I firstly don't really believe in wearing any sort of emblems on air.

I'm not even sure I'd wear a black tie in the event of death, I've never worn one of those either, except possibly at my own death, I suppose I might wear it, but that would be in the coffin.

I haven't worn a poppy and I don't really believe it's necessary to do so.

I think they died that we might be free to determine whether we wanted to wear a poppy and when we wanted to wear a poppy.

MARY GEARIN: You've previously called it a phenomenon of poppy fascism.

What exactly do you think the fascist manifesto is in your opinion?

What do you think are the values associated with it?

JON SNOW: Well I don't mean it in that literal sense, but there is a degree of peer group pressure, there's a sort of mass determination it seems to get everybody to wear one, and I don't like that.

I think people should make up their own minds as to whether they want to wear a poppy or if they want to do anything at all themselves, and that's where I am.

MARY GEARIN: When did all of this start? During your career, when did you feel that this became a little too much?

JON SNOW: Well, I'd say that poppy wearing has boomed during the most recent wars.

So certainly Iraq and Afghanistan, though it had a bit of a spurt during the Falklands War, but more generally I'd say it's happened in the last decade and a bit.

MARY GEARIN: And who are the biggest believers in this? Is it the news presenters, or the producers behind them, who feel they ought to present some sort of statement, or is it celebrities who've pushed this to gain attention, if you like, and approval?

JON SNOW: Well, the state broadcaster, the BBC, I think has a policy of wearing poppies.

Indeed, I'm reliably informed that they have a jar full of poppies in the makeup parlour, so that if by some mischance, they haven't got one, they can stuff one on.

And I think in a way that sort of helps defeat the whole idea of the thing, which is that you should contribute independently towards the charity that benefits from the poppies. And I certainly buy a poppy, and I would wear one privately, but I'm not going to flaunt it on the television screen.

But where did it start? I think it possibly started with MPs.

There is a sudden moment in the middle of October, at least two weeks if not more before Remembrance Sunday, when you suddenly see a spray of poppies across the House of Commons, and you suddenly discover that the entire cabinet is wearing them.

I think this is an odd phenomenon, I think it's very curious that every single person, almost like a sort of gang of lemmings, is going to do exactly the same thing on exactly the same day, which is not even itself the Remembrance Sunday.

MARY GEARIN: Is there any other symbol like this in British public life?

JON SNOW: Not that I know of.

I mean, quite a lot of people choose to wear a breast cancer ribbon, a pink ribbon, or they might wear a gay rights ribbon or something like that, but it's a very personal choice. And I don't think I've ever been aware of absolutely everybody wearing the same thing and being, as it were, compelled to wear one.

I mean, my inbox is absolutely full of people telling me, "Why are you not wearing a poppy?"

There are complaints to the program every night.

MARY GEARIN: I must get your reaction to this - one thing that was notable for me was watching correspondents reporting from Hurricane Sandy with the poppies on their lapels.

What do you think was the decision process there?

JON SNOW: Heaven only knows.

I mean the last thing in my mind, if I was - indeed, I was up at the hurricane, I can't think that I ever even bothered about what I was looking like.

You're looking at other people suffering, and the idea that you'd be worried about whether you'd got a poppy on or not seems to be absolutely nonsensical.

MARY GEARIN: The poppies will soon be put away, but in less than a year they will surely bloom again, as will the annual debate about the meaning of flowers and freedom.

This is Mary Gearin in London for Correspondents Report.