About the UDC

The United Daughters of the Confederacy is the outgrowth of many local memorial, monument, and Confederate home associations and auxiliaries to camps of United Confederate Veterans that were organized after the War Between the States. It is the oldest patriotic organization in our country because of its connection with two statewide organizations that came into existence as early as 1890 -- the Daughters of the Confederacy (DOC) in Missouri and the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Confederate Soldiers Home in Tennessee.

The National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy was organized in Nashville, Tenn., on September 10, 1894, by founders Mrs. Caroline Meriwether Goodlett of Nashville and Mrs. Anna Davenport Raines of Georgia. At its second meeting in Atlanta, Ga., in 1895, the Organization changed its name to the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The United Daughters of the Confederacy was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia on July 18, 1919.

Membership is open to women no less than 16 years of age who are blood descendants, lineal or collateral, of men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy or Civil Service of the Confederate States of America, or gave Material Aid to the Cause.

Objectives

The objectives of the organization are Historical, Educational, Benevolent, Memorial and Patriotic:

• To collect and preserve the material necessary for a truthful history of the War Between the States and to protect, preserve, and mark the places made historic by Confederate valor
• To assist descendants of worthy Confederates in securing a proper education
• To fulfill the sacred duty of benevolence toward the survivor of the War and those dependent upon them
• To honor the memory of those who served and those who fell in the service of the Confederate States of America
• To record the part played during the War by Southern women, including their patient endurance of hardship, their patriotic devotion during the struggle, and their untiring efforts during the post-War reconstruction of the South
• To cherish the ties of friendship among the members of the Organization

Insignia

The insignia of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is the First National Flag (Stars and Bars) of the Confederacy surrounded by a laurel wreath bearing the letters "UDC" under the flag; the whole is tied with a ribbon on which are inscribed the dates "1861-1865."

The name United Daughters of the Confederacy and the insignia are registered trademarks.

Emblem and Motto

The emblem of the UDC is a cotton boll superimposed on a five-pointed star . At the tips of the points are the words of the motto: LOVE, LIVE, PRAY, THINK, DARE