Sons of Union Veterans

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is a congressionally chartered, fraternal hereditary society whose members are the male descendants of veterans that served in the the Union Army or Union Navy in the American Civil War.The legal successor to the Grand Army of the Republic, it is among the oldest fraternal organizations in the United States and one of the first political activist groups whose achievements include supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, creating Memorial Day, and establishing veteran pensions. Its success ignited the "Golden Age of Fraternalism" in the United States and contributed to the regular display of the American flag among citizens.