The party was officially founded in 1954 as the successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union (Christelijke Vlaamse Volksunie, CVV) electoral alliance, which had successfully run for election that year.

That initially complicated the postwar re-emergence of Flemish nationalism[7][8] although only a faction of the broader movement had actually pursued an agenda of collaboration.

[8][9] After the only outlets for organised Flemish nationalism were charitable groups dedicated to war veterans and the dominant Christian Social Party (Christelijke Volkspartij, CVV), which was not avowedly nationalist but had a separatist wing.

[10] The party contained members from the left, right and centre of the political spectrum from socialists to right-wing conservatives, and it differed from other Belgian parties by putting Flemish nationalism at the forefront of its image and platform as opposed to basing its policies on a right or left-of-centre identity.

[12][13] The party initially proved successful and had members elected to the Chamber of Representatives (five) and the Senate (two) of the Belgian Federal Parliament in 1961.

The party continued to grow in stature and reached the 11.0% at the national level in 1978 elections, gaining 21 representatives and went on to participate in the Belgian government as a coalition partner.

In government, the VU was also able to ensure a Dutch language version of the Belgian constitution was adopted, gradually secured more regional powers for Flanders and worked to redefine Belgium as a federal rather than a unitary state.

The right-wing separatist and national conservative faction broke away and organized itself in the Vlaams Blok, becoming a much stronger political force and surpassing Volksunie at the beginning of the 1990s (6.6% against VU's 5.9% in 1991 elections).

Tension rose at the end of the 1990s when Geert Bourgeois of the centre-right nationalist wing, was elected chairman by party members, in preference to the incumbent and progressive Patrik Vankrunkelsven.

Factions subsequently clashed multiple times, over the future course of the party and possible support for current state reform negotiations.