The Purple Poppy and the Purple Paw Badge

Animal Aid now offers an enamel purple paw badge, which commemorates all animal victims of human exploitation. Unlike seasonal symbols, the purple paw can be worn all year round as a statement of your compassion and remembrance.

This initiative evolved from our earlier purple poppy campaign, launched in 2006 to draw attention to the animal victims of war – an issue that no other organisation seemed to be addressing. Our aim was clear: animals used in warfare are victims, not heroes. They do not choose to take part; their lives are taken from them. They are used both on the frontline and in cruel weapons testing.

Unfortunately, the media narrative often portrayed these animals as valiant servants of people in violent conflict—the opposite of what we intended. Rather than invest resources in countering this, we decided that Animal Aid’s finite resources would be better spent on other urgent campaigns that could make a real difference for animals.

For this reason, we discontinued the purple poppy in 2015 and introduced the purple paw as a lasting symbol of remembrance for all animals exploited by humans.