The annual argument over the politics of the red poppy is well and truly underway. LBC host James O’Brien recently declared that supporters of the far-right have no business wearing the national symbol of remembrance, because they had effectively “switched sides” and become one with the very forces against which Britain battled during the 20th century.

From a very different stance, Manchester United footballer Nemanja Matic has movingly explained why he won’t wear the poppy during this weekend’s derby match against City (it reminds him of the Nato bombing of the former Yugoslavia when he was growing up there in the 1990s). And elsewhere, pundits and the public are debating – as they do every year – the fine details of poppy etiquette: who should wear it, who can’t wear it and for how long prior to Remembrance Sunday should it be worn.

Understanding the origins of the poppy certainly helps. It started in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, when an American woman – Moina Michael – persuaded the newly formed American Legion to adopt the poppy as its symbol of remembrance. She had been inspired by the famous poem of Canadian soldier John McCrae, “In Flanders Fields”: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row…”

As historian Adrian Gregory has explained, her idea was for the artificial poppies to be manufactured in France “by women, for the benefit of children”.

In 1921, the British Legion was invited to participate and in 1922 – in order to provide employment for disabled veterans – manufacturing of the poppy shifted from France to Britain and the beneficiaries of the sales were now ex-servicemen in need. The poppy appeal became firmly joined to the charitable fund for ex-servicemen established by the former commander-in-chief of the British forces, Earl Haig.

So in many respects, the origins of the poppy appeal are praiseworthy. Yet “praiseworthy” is not the same as “non-political” – and the origins of the poppy appeal in Britain clearly lie with an organisation (the British Legion) and an individual (Earl Haig) who were committed to remembering the Great War in a certain way – as something horrific, yet necessary; terrible, yet worthy.

As such, the origins of the poppy are linked to some of the other symbols of remembrance produced by “official” culture in the post-1918 period: the Cenotaph, the grave of the Unknown Warrior and the cemeteries established overseas by the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). The sincere (and well meant) statements of the British Legion notwithstanding, there has always been a political side to the poppy.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

It is this detail that led some to question the red poppy back in the 1930s. In 1933, as governments in Western Europe began to rearm and remilitarise, the Co-operative Women’s Guild started selling white poppies as a symbol of peace. In 1936, the white poppy was then adopted by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) which still sells it today.

For the PPU, conscious of the rising tensions of the 1930s, the red poppy had lost touch with its origins as a symbol of solemn remembrance. Instead, the PPU feared that the poppy had become compromised by resurgent nationalism. So they offered the white poppy in response – to wear it was to identify oneself as a pacifist willing to contest the increasingly disturbing political developments of the years before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Bearing this long history in mind, what are the key issues as people discuss and decide whether or not to wear the red poppy this Armistice Day? The centennial of the war’s end?

First, to buy and wear the red poppy is to associate oneself with almost a century of war remembrance, activity which has always been (and remains) “political”. No society can remember its wars and mourn its dead without ascribing to the violence and victims a meaning. The symbols a society duly produces – including the red poppy – carry an implicit “politics”.

Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Centenary of Armistice – in pictures The moat of the Tower of London filled with thousands of lit torches as part of the installation 'Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers', marking the centenary of the end of the First World War Reuters Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Poppy tributes outside Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures 36,000 leaf-shaped messages are hung from St. Patrick's Cathedral ceiling in Dublin, remembering the 36,000 Irish men and women who died in World War I PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Colour Sgt Paul Harris of the 3pwr reservists salutes beneath a wooden sculpture of a First World War horse in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent following a service of dedication for their Field of Remembrance PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Staff from Cardiff Castle dressed in period WWI dress, look around the newly opened Commonwealth War Graves Commission replica cemetery and exhibition, which has been installed at the castle to mark the centenary of Armistice. The 330 headstones placed in the courtyard represent the more than 30,000 Welsh men and women who gave their lives during the First World War PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures The Weeping Window poppy installation, by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper, is pictured outside of the Imperial War Museum in London, ahead of Armistice Day. Weeping Window is a cascade comprising several thousand handmade ceramic poppies seen pouring from a high location to the ground below AFP/Getty Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Yeoman of the Guard light the first torches Getty Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Three men take a moment to look at the Lions of the Great War monument in Smethwick, West Midlands. The 10-foot high bronze figure of a Sikh soldier is the UK's first statue of a World War soldier from South Asia, and commemorates 100 years since the end of the war PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Veterans attend the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Chelsea Pensioner Roy Palmer, aged 79, in his ceremonial uniform as a retired member of the British army with 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign to commemorate the upcoming centenary of the end of World War I. World War I ended on November 11, 1918 and 'There But Not There' is the 2018 Armistice project for the charity Remembered AP Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Yeoman Warders, commonly known as 'Beefeaters' light the first of thousands of flames in a lighting ceremony AFP/Getty Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Sixteen thousand poppies that have been installed on the exterior of Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh to mark the centenary of armistice at the end of the First World War PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Soldiers from 3RSME, the Royal School of Military Engineering, look at a piece called 'Lost Soldiers', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Montgomery Square in Canary Wharf, London, as part of its Remembrance Art Trail to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures The Swindon Borough Council Tommy silhouette on display inside St Augustine's Church, Wiltshire, where 1300 poppies hang from the roof to represent the lives lost in the local area during World War I PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures 93-year-old veteran Elizabeth Mitchell lays a wreath at the opening of the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures 'The Haunting', a six-metre high sculpture depicting a weary First World War soldier, on display in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, after it's official unveiling to commemorate the centenary of the ending of World War I PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Gregory, Master Gunner of St James's Park, reads a section from the Royal Artillery's Armistice Roll of Honour, containing the names of their fallen World War One comrades, in the Morning Chapel inside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Volunteers light torches that are part of the installation 'Beyond the Deepening Shadow' at the Tower of London Reuters Centenary of Armistice – in pictures A soldier from 3RSME, the Royal School of Military Engineering, looks at a piece called 'Lost Armies', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Jubilee Park in Canary Wharf PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures A Chelsea Pensioner stands with 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign AP Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Luke, Nathan and Frankie from Hornchurch and Upminster Sea Cadets, look at a piece called 'ANA', which has been created by artist Mark Humphrey and is on display at Adams Plaza in Canary Wharf PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Thousands of flames in the dry moat of the Tower of London PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures The figure of a First World War soldier sits on a central reservation in Woolton Village, Liverpool marking the cemtenary of the end of the war PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Crosses and poppies placed in the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in the city's Princes Street Gardens PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures British General Lord Richard Dannatt, front center, the retired former Chief of the General Staff, head of the British army, poses for a group photograph with Chelsea Pensioners, serving soldiers, serving airmen and women, Royal Navy reservists, military veterans and 6 foot 'Tommy' figures at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, for the 'There But Not There' campaign AP Centenary of Armistice – in pictures A Yeoman of the Guard stands amongst lit torches Reuters Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Canon Nick Fennemore, Chaplain of Winchester Cathedral, looks at the woollen poppies hung on the railings outside the Cathedral in Hampshire to recall the poppy fields of Flanders. The installation will remain until 19 November, as part of First World War commemorations PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures The UK Parliament and German Bundestag choirs commemorate the centenary of the Armistice which ended the First World War, at the Houses of Parliament PA Centenary of Armistice – in pictures Members of the public at the unveiling of a new war memorial in Hamilton Square in Birkenhead. The bronze statue of an exhausted soldier, created by Jim Wheelen and The Birkenhead Institute Old Boys, was inspired by poet Wilfred Owen who died in the First World War 100 years ago today Centenary of Armistice – in pictures The St Paul's Cathedral remembrance field, which was opened to commemorate the end of the First World War 100 years ago PA

Understood in these terms, the fact that some choose on principle not to wear the red poppy is entirely reasonable. To do so is not to insult the dead, but to question the purpose for which it is often said they died. I am profoundly sympathetic to such a sentiment and will quite happily defend the right of people not to wear the British Legion’s poppy (or indeed the right to wear the white poppy in its stead).

For those who declare that such acts are unacceptable, I would simply say that if – as countries such as Britain reasonably claim – the wars of the 20th century were fought to defend certain rights and liberties, then part of this was surely the right to dissent, the right to disagree, the right to follow the dictates of one’s conscience.

But it is also for this very reason that I will wear the red poppy this Sunday. Not as a mindless expression of nationalist chauvinism, nor in order to simply make acceptable the carnage and catastrophe of 20th century war. Rather, like so many others, I will wear the British Legion’s poppy as a means to remember those who, on behalf of this nation, have gone to war and not returned.

I will wear it to remember all those – soldiers, civilians, men, women, adults and children – who have been killed, maimed and traumatised by conflict. And I will wear it because to do so is precisely to engage in a political act while at the same time humbly acknowledging the absolute right of others to do differently, according to their conscience and their politics.

Dissent and respectful disagreement are surely the hallmark of a healthy democracy and so, regardless of what you choose to do this Armistice, regardless of whether or not you choose to wear the red poppy, we must all be prepared to accept – and respect – that others might think and act differently.

Sam Edwards is a senior lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University