Fraternity facts for kids

Fraternal Love by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1851)

Fraternity is a special idea about people being like brothers and sisters. It means having strong feelings of friendship, support, and understanding for each other. Another word for fraternity is brotherhood. It's about working together and caring for everyone in a group or community.

This idea is so important that it's part of the national motto of France: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." This motto shows that freedom, fairness, and brotherhood are key values for the country.

What is Fraternity?

Fraternity is more than just being friends. It's about a deep connection where people feel responsible for each other. Think of a sports team where everyone supports their teammates, or a family where members look out for one another. That's the spirit of fraternity.

It often involves:

• Mutual support: Helping each other out when times are tough.
• Shared goals: Working together to achieve something important.
• Respect: Treating everyone with kindness and understanding.

Fraternity in Japan

In Japan, the idea of fraternity has been important to some leaders. A former prime minister named Ichiro Hatoyama believed strongly in this idea. He learned about it from a book by an Austrian thinker named Richard Nikolaus Eijiro von Coudenhove-Kalergi.

Ichiro Hatoyama worked hard to share this idea with others. Later, his grandson, Yukio Hatoyama, also became the prime minister of Japan. Yukio continued to believe in and promote his grandfather's idea of fraternity. In Japanese, the Hatoyama family's idea of fraternity is called "Yūai" (友愛). This word means friendship and love for humanity.

Images for kids

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  Friar novices in religious habit of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, a religious order of the Catholic Church (2006).

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  A meeting of Freemasons in West Germany (1948).

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  Blessed Gerard Thom (c. 1040–1120), lay brother in the Benedictine order and founder of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem after the First Crusade in 1099.

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  Kraków's Kur Fraternity during the inauguration of Józef Piłsudski Monument in Kraków.

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  The Syndics of the Drapers' Guild by Rembrandt, 1662.

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  The German Student Corps are known for practicing their tradition of engaging in academic fencing by rules dating back to the 1750s.

See also

In Spanish: Organización fraternal para niños