White Poppy Peace Scholarships

White poppies for peace

Aotearoa New Zealand

to remember all the casualties of war
and to promote peace

Challenging militarism and building peace: Campaigns and peace projects
Honour the war dead by ending war: WW1 Centenary Peace Project


Please scroll down this page for information about:  dot The white poppy  dot The White Poppy Peace Scholarships  dot How you can support the Peace Scholarships  dot Where you can get white poppies, during the Annual Appeal and at any time of the year for any peace occasion  dot Contact details for White Poppies for Peace.


White Poppies for Peace 2024 Appeal: As usual, the Annual Appeal week will run from 17 to 24 April, and the Street Appeal day is Wednesday, 17 April 2024. White poppies are available from us by post providing we receive your order by 23 March 2024 at the latest, thank you.

Donations for White Poppies for Peace: By direct credit or internet banking to 02 0536 0323908 08 - if you would like a receipt, please send your details to us, thank you.

If you are interested in information about ANZAC Day 2024 peace activities, the details will be available here in late March. If you are interested in comments on how COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the folly of war and military spending, please refer to the links on the Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign on Military Spending site.


  About the white poppy

    The white poppy is an international symbol of remembrance for all the casualties of war - civilians and armed forces personnel - and of peace. Some people see it as an alternative to the red poppy, others see it as complementary; some choose to wear both poppies, some one or the other, and some no poppy at all. A brief history of the white poppy is available below.

    White poppies are available for a donation to the White Poppy Peace Scholarships.

  About the White Poppy Peace Scholarships

    The White Poppy Peace Scholarships comprise grants that are awarded to assist with the costs of research that includes analysis of one or more of these topics: the impacts of militarism, militarisation, military deployment and / or warfare; alternatives to militarism, militarisation, military deployment and / or warfare; opposition to militarism, militarisation, military deployment and / or warfare; military recruitment practices and messaging; state construction of national identity based on militarism and militarisation; the military-industrial complex; or media coverage of militarism, militarisation, military deployment and / or warfare.

    The Scholarships are for students studying at any tertiary education institution in Aotearoa New Zealand. Each grant is a minimum of $1,000 - one is for a Maori or Moriori student, with the other/s open to any student with New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency. Information about the Scholarships is available here.

  How you can support the Peace Scholarships

    The White Poppy Peace Scholarships are entirely funded by the White Poppy Annual Appeal, as well as other donations for poppies and donations given directly for the Peace Scholarships. The amount and number of grants awarded annually is determined by the amount raised during that year, and the quality of applications.

    There are two ways you can support the Peace Scholarships - by making a donation, or by helping to collect donations for white poppies. Your generosity will help to promote peace by directly supporting research into militarism, militarisation and war.

    To make a donation by direct credit or internet banking, please use the form available here which has the account details - if you would like a receipt, please fill in your details and send it to us, thank you.

  Where you can get white poppies

    White poppies are available at any time during the year for a donation to the Peace Scholarships, or you can order poppies for your peace event then send us the donations collected afterwards. You can get them by using this form; during the Annual Appeal (details below), white poppies are also available from authorised collectors.

  White Poppy Annual Appeal

    The White Poppy Appeal is held annually from 17 to 24 April. White Poppies for Peace collection boxes are distributed to collectors in different parts of the country from Hokianga to Dunedin - last year the street appeal was only held in Dunedin, thank you to everyone who helped with the 2023 Annual Appeal, by collecting, spreading the word about white poppies for peace or sending a donation.

    If you would like to help with the 2024 Annual Appeal, please use the form available here, thank you.

  Contact details

  A brief history of the white poppy

    So far as is known, white poppies were first produced by the Co-operative Women's Guild in Britain in 1933, and later the Peace Pledge Union undertook their annual distribution. In subsequent years, white poppies spread to other countries around the globe, and the white poppy became an international symbol of remembrance and peace.

    How and when white poppies first came to Aotearoa New Zealand is unknown, but certainly they have been worn around ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day in the past. In recent years, the annual white poppy appeal was run as a fundraiser for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Wellington around the time of Hiroshima Day in August.

    Responsibility for organising the annual appeal was transferred to Peace Movement Aotearoa, as part of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's closing down process in 2008, on the understanding that:

      dot   it would revert from August to April, around the time of ANZAC Day. This was in response to requests from Peace Movement Aotearoa members and member organisations over the years to change the time of the appeal to be more in keeping with the original (and ongoing) message of white poppies; and

      dot   it would be a national appeal from 2009 with the proceeds going to the new White Poppy Peace Scholarships.


    Lest we forget   |   WW1 Centenary Peace Project   |   Peace Movement Aotearoa