Flag of Hawaii

The flag of Hawaii is the only one of a United States state that carries another country’s flag inside: that of the United Kingdom. Its eight stripes stand for the eight large islands of the archipelago. It was already flying when Hawaii was an independent kingdom.

How it came about

In 1794 the British captain George Vancouver reached an agreement with King Kamehameha I and gave him a British flag. For years the kingdom used that red flag with the Union Jack in the corner.

Around 1816 a different Hawaiian flag appears: the British flag in the corner and stripes of colour over the rest. Nobody knows for certain who drew it. Some attribute it to the Scottish captain Alexander Adams, who commanded one of the king’s ships; others to the British seaman George Beckley, adviser to Kamehameha. It is said the king wanted to mix British and American elements so as not to offend either power, but that story is unverified.

How it has changed

For almost thirty years there were versions with more or fewer stripes, until in 1845 the design was fixed.

1. 

   1794-1816

   The kingdom uses the red ensign of British ships, a gift from Vancouver’s sailors.

2. 

   1816-1845

   First flag of its own. The number and order of the stripes change depending on who describes it.

3. 

   1845

   Eight stripes, starting with white. It was hoisted on 25 May 1845 and has not changed since.

Other flags and proposals

The official flag has rivals inside the movement that seeks the return of Hawaiian sovereignty.

• No oficial

  The Kānaka Maoli flag

  Nine green, red and yellow stripes with a green shield and two paddles. Gene Simeona presented it in 2001 as the original flag of the kingdom, but nobody has been able to confirm it.

• No oficial

  The flag upside down

  Some defenders of Hawaiian sovereignty hang the official flag upside down as a distress signal: the kingdom is in danger.

What it means

• Eight stripes

  the eight main islands: Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Niʻihau.

• British flag

  the friendship of the first king, Kamehameha I, with British sailors. Hawaii was never a colony of the United Kingdom.

• Red, white and blue

  the British colours, which are also those of the United States.

Fun facts

1. An American state with the British flag

   It is the only flag of a US state that carries the flag of the United Kingdom. It resembles those of Australia or New Zealand, but there the British flag takes up a quarter of the field and here rather less.

2. It survived four governments

   The same flag served the kingdom, the republic that overthrew it in 1893, the United States territory from 1898 and the state from 1959.

3. Seven stripes according to a Russian

   The Russian navigator Vasili Golovnin visited Oʻahu in 1818 and described the flag as having seven stripes, not eight.

4. Five months under occupation

   In 1843 the British officer George Paulet occupied the islands on his own for five months. That same year, after the occupation, the eight-stripe design was fixed, and 31 July, the day of the return, is today also Hawaiian Flag Day.

Location

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