Remembrance Day 2012

 Part of my yearly routine is attending the Remembrance Day ceremonies and painting my nails for the occasion. These were my Remembrance Day nails for this year. On the left hand were poppies on a green background. On the right was an evolution of the uniform from the red serge of the 1800s to modern day. These were in part based off the Canada Post stamps for the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

Remembrance Day 2011

This year I divided my nails between the top and the bottom. On the right hand is the somewhat official view. Based off their military flags (according to the poster hanging on my wall) these fingers feature the modern umbrella groups of the Canadian military. On the index finger is Air Command, on the middle Land Forces Command, and on the ring Maritime Command (excluding the crown due to spacing issues). On the right is a Great War soldier's view. Based off works by my personal favourite Great War artist, Otto Dix. The image on the index is from "Storm Troops Advancing Under a Gas Attack". The middle is taken from "Transporting the Wounded in Houthulst Forest" and the ring from "Machine Gunners Advance". Poppies are on the pinky fingers. The thumbs are red, white and blue camouflage taken from the Remembrance Day mask of Carey Price.

Remembrance Day 2010

Occassionally I will think ahead and when that happens I usually think quite far ahead. I had been looking for a khaki brown or khaki green colour for a while. I love the military and figured at some point I would need these. There was also a nail plan that was thwarted due to being unable to find a good shade though I can't recall anymore what I had wanted to do. When LA Girl came out with a new metallic line I saw this green and knew it would be perfect for a Great War uniform colour. And that would be a perfect design for Remembrance Day. It didn't matter that I had over 3 months to wait. The bottle of metallic green polish sat in my container of nail polish patiently for those 3 months; I couldn't use it for another purpose, it would be christened on Nov. 11. This was the final result. Next year I might complicate the design a bit more, but as an initial attempt I quite enjoyed these.

Vimy Ridge

As a Canadian who loves military history, for April 9-12 it was necessary that I pay tribute to the Canadian Corps taking Vimy Ridge in 1917. It was the first time Canadians fought together in a single action and has inspired many 'nation' myths since. Regardless, it's an important point in Canadian history and Canadian military history. The thumbs gave the dates. The left hand showed the German lines and the movement of Canadian troops while the left showed the Canadian lines and the movement of Canadian troops. The "V" was the location of the ridge. Since Canada's flag was the Red Ensign I included the Union Jack along with a maple leaf (on the cap badges).