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Hawaii (United States)

by Mario Fabretto, 24 February 1998

History
Flag of Nation of Hawai'i
Governor's Flag

See also:

History

Summarizing the book "The History of the United States Flag", by Quaife, Weig, and Appleman:

Only US state flag to have flown over a kingdom, a territory, a republic, and a state.
Captain Vancouver established a UK-Hawaii friendship in 1793-4 and obtained a "cession" of the Islands to the UK, but the British government apparently never took notice of it. He gave a red ensign to the king then, which on later visits he found flying in places of honor.
During the War of 1812, an American asked why the King (this was Kamehameha) was flying the "enemy" flag. He lowered it and raised the US Flag, only to have the same thing happen when a British ship put into port. To avoid trouble, they decided to combine the two flags into one.
A captain Adams (British) apparently helped design this flag for the king. Some scholars credit a Captain Beckley, however.
The number of stripes varied, but was standardized at eight after 1843, for the eight principal islands in the group. In 1843 the UK declared that Hawaii was definitely independent and the Hawaiian flag was raised in a ceremony. However, this flag had stripes in the order white-red-blue through some mistake, which is why it is that way today, not red-white-blue as was originally done.

Dipesh Navsaria, 21 November 1995

Chronology:

1794-1816 Hawaii flew Union Jack as its National Flag
1816-1843 Hawaii flew early version of present flag
25 Feb - 31 July 1843 British occupation; all Hawaiian Flags were destroyed
31 July 1843 King Kamehameha III spoke his famous prayer of thanksgiving, a part of which serves today as the State Motto while a Hawaiian Flag that included a dove and olive branch was hoisted.
20 May 1845 present Hawaiian Flag adopted
1 Feb - 1 April 1893 US Flag flown in Hawaii
1894 Republic of Hawaii readopts Hawaiian Flag
1898-1959 Territory of Hawaii uses Hawaiian Flag (confirmed 1903)
1959-present State of Hawaii uses Hawaiian Flag (confirmed 1959)

I don't know if this is (or was) Standard Operating Procedure, but the British did confiscate all Hawaiian flags and burned them in 1843. This was the reason for the Hawaiian "revolt" which led to a British withdrawal in July (or so says a book I have on Hawaiian history). The "revolt" consisted of the total ignoring of the presence of the British by the Hawaiians. No talking, no notice, no nothing. Actually, the occupation was not sanctioned by London and Feb to July is how long it took word to go to London and back again. But the Hawaiians say they defeated the British by ignoring them!

Dave Martucci, 19 April 1997

Flag of Nation of Hawai'i

by Antonio Martins, 11 June 1997

Nation of Hawai'i is a pro-independence group of people descended from the original inhabitants of the islands. They have a white-yellow-black flag with a 'Kahili' symbol in the middle yellow band (the white and black bands are half the size of the yellow). See their site for a full explanation of the flag and the coat of arms
Jan Oskar Engene, 24 August 1995

The white and black bars represent the balance of all things - Heaven and Earth, night and day, the positive and negative. The gold represents the entire human `ohana (family), with precious life as pure as golden light. The purple represents the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian Archipelago, Na Kanaka Maoli, caretakers of the Spirit of Aloha. The Kahili is an ancient symbol of communication between Heaven and Earth, inspiring leadership of the `ohana. The Kahili is embraced by La`i, leaves of Ti, a sacred plant of Hawai`i with powers of spiritual protection and healing.
Steve "Scooter" Kramer, 9 September 1996

Governor of Hawaii

by Jaume Ollé, 7 April 1997

According Nava news (January 1984) the flag of the governor of Hawaii is blue over red with the word "Hawaii" in white in the center and, around the word, 8 white stars (8 islands perhaps?).
Jaume Ollé, 7 April 1997