The main Cardiff service took place in Cathays Park

A two-minute silence has been held at cenotaphs in town, cities and villages.

Meanwhile, Ceredigion MP Simon Thomas is also calling for Wales to have its own Remembrance Day poppy.

But the idea has been dismissed by a senior Royal British Legion officer, who also condemned Aberystwyth's council for laying white poppies.

The town council laid a wreath of white poppies, alongside a traditional red one, in memory of everybody killed during wartime.

The thing with white poppies is that they remember everyone - non-combatant civilians, the enemies who died and our own soldiers Mabon ap Gwynfor

Speaking after the ceremony, Aberystwyth town councillor Mabon ap Gwynfor said: "Some people believed we were out to hijack the memorial ceremony.

"But the laying of a white wreath along with the traditional red one is a gesture to remember everybody who has died as a result of war.

"We wanted to remember civilians and soldiers - of all sides - who have died during war."

In Cardiff, former Welsh Rugby Union president Sir Tasker Watkins, thought to be Wales' only surviving war veteran with a Victoria Cross, was guest of honour at the service at the Garden of Remembrance in Alexandra Gardens on Thursday.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan also attended the event, which is the main remembrance service for Wales.

A wreath of white poppies was laid in Aberystwyth

Abroad, Welsh Secretary and Commons Leader Peter Hain, who is on a trade mission to Australia and New Zealand, is taking part in a memorial service in Wellington.

Back in Wales, the Royal British Legion organised services at a number of sites.

In north Wales, they include Wrexham, Bangor, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog.

Meanwhile, Ceredigion MP Simon Thomas said a distinct Welsh poppy could revitalise the legion's poppy campaign in Wales.

Mr Thomas has tabled a Commons motion to back his idea of a poppy just for Wales.

He said: "I haven't seen a single person under the age of 14 wearing a poppy.

A two-minute silence was held in Wrexham

"I think we have lost a great link between the generations. The older generation that still believes in the poppy, still remembers what it means.

"But I don't think many people these days - perhaps as many as half the population - really understand what the purpose of the poppy is or why we have a poppy rather than any other flower to commemorate those who died in the war."

But Colonel Peter Howells, one of the legion's most senior spokesmen in Wales, said: "This suggestion is a political gimmick that won't do any good.

"We want to unite the British Legion in England and Wales - I just don't see the sense of it.

"The last five years have proved that more and more young people are attending memorial services than have ever attended before."

Col Howells also criticised Aberystwyth's white poppy wreath.

"I think it's disgraceful. They (white poppies) are something we just abhor in the British Legion and just don't want to bother with.

"A poppy is what it has always been - a sign of the trauma that goes with war."