On Sunday, I will wear my poppy with pride when I attend a Remembrance Sunday service near to my home.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the end of fighting in the First World War, that most terrible of conflicts and at the start of the year, I was asked if I would help to produce at booklet to remember the men from the area where I live who either died during the war or died later as a result of their military service.

It was hard work but was a real labour of love. The longer the project went on, the more 'real' those men became to me.

I read stories of incredible bad luck – a soldier killed by a sniper just a couple of days before the Armistice and the sailor who inadvertently walked into a propeller blade at a naval air station.

But I also read stories of incredible bravery and honour, men who gave their lives defending their comrades in the face of overwhelming odds.

As I said, I will wear my poppy with pride, knowing that my monetary contribution will go towards funding the good work done by the Royal British Legion.

According to the RBL website, every pound raised helps the Royal British Legion support wounded, injured and sick service men and women from all three services.

It also supports their families.

One of the projects is The Battle Back Centre at Lilleshall. Funded by the Legion, the centre provides sports and adventurous activities for wounded, injured and sick service men and women from all three services.

All activities promote self-confidence and improve motivation to aid recovery and tailored programmes help with both physical and psychological challenges.

The centre exists to help people achieve their best possible recovery and either return to Service duty or make a smooth transition to civilian life.

Who wouldn't want to support a project such as that?

The poppy as a symbol of remembrance came about because they grow wild in many of the First World War battlefields of northern France and Belgium and was adopted by the Legion in 1921, inspired by the John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields. John McCrae was a Canadian physician who died during the conflict.

His poem was composed in 1915 after witnessing the flowers growing on the graves of those who had died during the second battle of Ypres.

More than 40 million remembrance poppies are now made by the Royal British Legion each year, and it is the main way that the charity – which, in addition to its remembrance duties, helps serving members of the Armed Forces, as well as veterans, their families and dependants – raises money.

But of course not everyone elects to wear a poppy, although it does seem to be mandatory for those appearing on television.

According to the TES website, some argue that the red poppy has become politicised and is used to glorify or justify the decision to go to war.

Harry Leslie Smith, a veteran of the Second World War, explained in The Guardian that he would no longer wear the poppy for that reason, writing: “I will no longer allow my obligation as a veteran to remember those who died in the great wars to be co-opted by current or former politicians to justify our folly in Iraq, our morally dubious war on terror and our elimination of one's right to privacy.”

Others make the case that the poppies have become no more than the equivalent of a fashion accessory. A report in The Telegraph, highlighted £150 silk scarves and £79.99 cufflinks – made from artillery shells recovered from the battlefields.

And we have even had stories this year of poppy brooches and other memorabilia that have no link to the Royal British Legion being shipped in from China.

Many have pointed out that wearing a poppy – or not wearing one – is not necessarily synonymous with respect or gratitude for the service of the Armed Forces.

When the newsreader Jon Snow was criticised in 2006 for not wearing a poppy, he responded: “I do not believe in wearing anything that represents any kind of statement. I respect our Armed Forces, the sacrifice and the loss, and like others I remember them on Remembrance Sunday. That's the way it is.”

And ITV London presenter Charlene White, faced a social media backlash a couple of years ago when she made the decision not to wear a poppy.

She wrote: “I support and am patron of a number of charities and I am uncomfortable with giving one of those charities more on-screen time than others. I prefer to be neutral and impartial on-screen so that one of those charities doesn’t feel less favoured than another.”

I personally choose to wear a poppy because I want to, not because I feel I need to and not because I feel under societal pressure to wear one.

But I also wholeheartedly support those who elect not to wear a poppy for whatever their personal reasons.

Isn't that sort of freedom the reason why we fought wars against tyranny and oppression?