Patch Armée de l'Air

The National Office of Bleuet de France has been a charitable organization integrated since 1991 into the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War; it assists nationals of the Office.

Where does the Bleuet de France come from?
In 1925, Charlotte Malleterre, daughter of the commander of the Hôtel National des Invalides and Suzanne Leenhardt, a nurse-major, created a workshop at the National Institution of Invalides (INI). Residents make blueberries in cloth that they sell on public roads, a means to provide them with an occupation and a source of income.

Why the Cornflower?
The blueberry is the symbol chosen to illustrate the solidarity towards the fighting world for several reasons. He recalls the horizon blue uniform that the young recruits, the "Bleuets", wore while joining their elders, the "Poilus", on the battlefields. The blueberry is recognized as the French flower of memory, the one that grew in the trench mud, the only colorful note in a landscape devastated with the poppy. Finally, blue is also one of the colors of the French Nation, the first color of the tricolor flag.