It became the symbol of remembrance, the vivid red flower found growing on the battlefields of France and Belgium.
When Private Cecil Roughton, 17, took the flower during a bloody battle in Arras, France, in 1916, and posted it home, his family treasured it in a notebook.
Now it has been revealed as the oldest poppy in Britain and has lovingly been restored after being donated to the Royal British Legion last year.
Private Roughton from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, pinned his poppy to a sheet of paper as a souvenir of the battle before sending it home to his family in Moseley, near Birmingham.
It was sent with a handwritten note above it which read: ‘Souvenir from a front line trench near arras May 1916. C. Roughton 1923’.
Former Royal Green Jacket Nigel Humphreys, 72, set about restoring the precious flower, which has survived remarkably well through the years.
He said: 'It was picked in May 1916 in front of a trench in Arras. It is likely that it is the oldest surviving poppy from the First World War.
'It is a bit tired from the years and a little faded but it is still very much a poppy.'
Mr Humphreys, chairman of the Batcombe and District Royal British Legion in Lympsham, Somerset, was told about the poppy by its owner at lunch earlier this year.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, had been passed on the poppy by her grandmother.
She donated it to the Royal British Legion after deciding it should be shared with the public for the first time.
Mr Humphreys immediately set about restoring the bloom and sent it to experts in Wales, who spent two weeks carefully preserving it in acrylic.
He said: 'The poppy is stuck on a very thin piece of paper which just states.
'Previously, pressed flowers were not very desirable so it is my guess that it sat in a box with a collection of other pressed flowers in a drawer somewhere for year.
'If the paper itself had been put in acrylic it would have gone see through.
From the trenches: The oldest poppy was picked right from the battlefields 95 years ago by the 17-year-old soldier, who had no idea it would be preserved for so long:
A symbol: Second World War veterans and serving soldiers stood side by side to launch the 90th Poppy Appeal this week:
'I sent it to experts in Wales who spent a few weeks working on it. Now, it looks fantastic. It is extraordinary that he sent it back to his family.
'He was one of the few privates who survived the First World War and that is remarkable too.'
Cecil Roughton returned after the War and married Dorothy Gregory.
The couple had two children together, Anne and John.
Dorothy died in 1966, and Cecil passed away on September 30 1977 aged 81.
The poppy is being shown at The Montague Inn, in Shepton Montague, Somerset, as part of a collaboration between the late Ted Milligan, a former prisoner of war, and artist Jon England.
Staff at The Montague Inn, including barmaid Rosalie Dowding, said the preservation was incredible.
Mr England has created an art exhibition in response to Mr Milligan’s experiences as a bomb-aimer in World War II who sketched fellow POWs while in the camp.
