banned from actively recruiting in the Republic of Ireland, the RBL has a branch in the Republic and holds a wreath-laying ceremony at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, which the President of Ireland has attended. The Republic has its own National Day of Commemoration in July for all Irish people who died in war. As in other non-Commonwealth countries, poppies are not often worn and are not part of the main commemorations. This is partly due to the British Army's role in fighting against Irish independence, some of its actions during the War of Independence and its role in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. In the years following the War of Independence, the poppy was particularly controversial, with Irish nationalists seeing it as a provocative symbol of British imperialism. In Dublin, British Legion marchers often had poppies snatched from their lapels, which led to street fights. In response, some poppy-wearers hid razor blades in their poppies. "As the 1930s progressed, 'Poppy Day' lost much of its violent edge in Dublin, but the wearing of the symbol also became less commonplace in subsequent decades". In 2017, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar wore a "shamrock poppy" in the Dáil, the first Taoiseach to do so. Ukraine Since 2014, Ukrainians have worn the poppy as a symbol of the Victory over Nazism and commemoration of the victims of World War II. It has largely replaced the Ribbon of Saint George, which became associated with pro-Russian separatists and Russian military aggression. A poppy logo was designed by Serhiy Mishakin and contains the text: "1939-1945 Never Again". United States In the United States, the Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted the first nationwide distribution of remembrance poppies before Memorial Day in 1922. The poppy was named the official flower of the American Legion in 1920, although the legion only began their own national distribution program of remembrance poppies in 1924. The American Legion Auxiliary distributes crepe-paper poppies in exchange for donations around Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Remembrance poppies in the U.S. had diminished since their introduction in the 1920s, although remembrance poppies are sometimes worn on Memorial Day. On Veterans Day, a red, white, and blue ribbon have supplanted the remembrance poppy as the common adornment to wear for the holiday. Cultural adoption of the symbol To commemorate Remembrance Day, several professional sports leagues have emblazoned the remembrance poppy symbol onto their uniforms. Many British professional football clubs