Flag | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 15, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

50-Star US Flag

At the time of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, there were no flags with any stars on them. The 13 Star Flag became the first official US Flag; it was adopted though an act of Congress on June 14, 1777.

Since 1818, a star for each new state has been added to the flag on the 4th of July the year immediately following each state’s admission. The blue background on the top left, where the stars are placed, represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice; the red stripes symbolize valor whereas the white means purity and innocence.

in the 1950s, it was assumed Alaska would be admitted to the Union; President Eisenhower signed the official proclamation on January 3, 1959. Upon learning this, designers began retooling the American flag to add a 49th star to the existing 48. Many expected that Hawai‘i would be added as the 50th state and 1953 was the earliest submission of a 50-star flag design.

The current design of the U.S. flag is its 27th. It was designed by Robert (Bob) Galen Heft. In the spring of 1958 while a 17-year-old junior at Lancaster High School, Ohio. Heft and his fellow classmates were given an assignment by US History teacher Stanley Pratt to prepare a history project of choice and report on it in class.

Heft was born on January 19, 1942, in Saginaw, Michigan to Maynard G. Heft and Viola C. Weaver; his parents separated when he was about one and Heft was raised by his grandparents Sheldon and Gladys Schromme in Lancaster (he referred to them as his parents). (Yuma Sun, Jun 14, 1995)

Heft had an interest in the Betsy Ross story and learned respect for the flag through his service in Boy Scouts. A flag project – an honorable and innocent task by most standards – seemed to be a natural choice for him. The idea of making a flag came to Heft at the time after seeing the flag flying at city hall. (Wakeman Funeral Home)

“I’d watch my mom sew, but I had never sewn … and since making the flag of our country, I’ve never sewn again,” said Heft. (West Point AOG)

Heft cut into the family flag with scissors, and with an additional $2.87 of new cloth and iron-on material he purchased from Wiseman’s Department Store, he then spent 12-½ hours over the course of the entire weekend at the family’s dining table constructing a new 50-star version of ‘Old Glory’ using a pattern of five rows of six stars with four alternating rows of five stars.

Pratt asked him, “What’s this on my desk?” Heft replied that it was a flag. Pratt pointed out to Heft that he had too many stars on the flag. “You don’t even know how many states we have,” Heft recollected Pratt’s response.

Pratt gave the young flag designer a grade of B-minus. Despite receiving a ‘decent grade,’ as Heft would later describe in speeches, he remained upset as he felt his grade did not match the effort he put into it – considering Tim and his level of effort.

Pratt then presented young Bob with a challenge to have his flag submitted to Congress and if they accept his 50-star flag design he would consider changing the grade. (Wakeman Funeral Home)

Ultimately, Executive Order 10834 notes, “Section 1. The flag of the United States shall have thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white, and a union consisting of white stars on a field of blue.”

“Sec. 2. The positions of the stars in the union of the flag and in the union jack shall be as indicated on the attachment to this order, which is hereby made a part of this order. Sec. 3. The dimensions of the constituent parts of the flag shall conform to the proportions set forth in the attachment referred to in section 2 of this order.” (EO 10834, Signed: August 21, 1959 Published: August 25, 1959)

Heft would make contact with the new Congressman of Ohio’s 10th District, Representative Walter H. Moeller, to inform him of his 50-star design. He eventually sent the flag to Representative Moeller with a note that in the event both Alaska and Hawaii become states that the Congressman submit the 50-star design on his behalf.

Over time, Heft would make numerous phone calls to Representative Moeller’s office, as well as 21 letters and 18 phone calls to the White House to check on the status of his flag submission. (Wakeman Funeral Home)

Eventually, Congress approved and the states ratified, Alaska, which officially became a state on January 3, 1959, and was acknowledged on a new 49-star flag at a flag-raising ceremony at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD on July 4, 1959.

The 49-star flag, however, would be short-lived – the shortest in U.S. history at only one year. While Hawaii also earned statehood in 1959, it did not occur until later in the year, August 21, after the 49-star flag had already been adopted. (Wakeman Funeral Home)

Following statehood of Hawaiʻi, the new flag of the United States of America (Heft’s design containing a union of 50 stars) flew for the first time at 12:01 am, July 4, 1960, when it was raised at the Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, Maryland.

Heft traveled the world extensively telling countless people of his unique story. He retired after 30 years as a high school and college history teacher. He was a seven-term Mayor of Napoleon, Ohio and past state president of the Ohio Mayor’s Association. He died on December 12, 2009 in Saginaw, Michigan at the age of 67. (Wakeman Funeral Home)

June 14, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … Stars and Stripes, the US Flag (also US Army Birthday)

As we approach the semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary of the forming of the United States (July 4, 2026), here is a brief summary of issues and actions that led to the Revolution and the Revolutionary War … this is about the US Flag.

“[N]ational symbols and ceremonies express deeper aspects and meanings of the nation, and function as integrative and/or divisive forces. Moreover, national symbols and ceremonies form a central part of a ‘secular’ religion which provides anchorage in a dynamic world.”

“National symbols and ceremonies also have an effect upon the community they represent; that is, they raise collective consciousness of ‘who we are’ and ‘where we are from.’” (Elgenius)

“The earliest depiction of a fabric flag is vaguely claimed to date back to 400 BC. It is painted on a wall in a Samnite colony in Paestum in Southern Italy. This depiction lacks a distinct design although the shape of the flag itself bears a close resemblance to a modem one.”

“The Chinese also used flags, as lateral cloth attachments to staffs, following the invention of silk farming. The development of sericulture around 3000 BC brought new possibilities of producing light, large, enduring and colourful (painted or dyed) flags that could be used outdoors.”

“These flags were mainly known for their military use, but also appeared in temples and religious processions. One of the earliest cloth flags was also flown during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom around 2000 BC.”

“It is not necessary to date the first flag, in this context, but it is interesting to see that flags were used by early civilisations and that the present pattern of flag symbolism has ancient roots.” (Elgenius)

“The end of the 18th century marks the official beginning of the ‘national’ flag. This was a gradual process where official recognition came after the flag and its colours had gained some sort of symbolic value.”

“It is noteworthy that one of the first manifestations of American ‘resistance’ was a Red Ensign with the motto ‘Liberty and Union’, which was hoisted a year before the Revolution in Taunton, Massachusetts.”

“Even earlier, in 1769, Boston had flown a flag of red and white stripes. The ‘rattlesnake’ with the motto ‘Don’t Tread on Me’, was another famous flag, which later developed into a depiction of the rattlesnake with 13 segments.”

“The Pine Tree emblem, which originated from New England and was later identified with the Liberty Tree, figured on many early American flags (and also in very early Native American symbolism).”

“The use of the Red Ensign with the motto in the fly, or with the Pine Tree in the canton and that of the plain Pine Tree Flag, were the first prime sources for the American flag tradition. These constituted together with the Boston striped flag the main starting points for the colonial flag evolving during 1775.”

“The emblem of the rattlesnake was seen in the canton of the Red Ensign, which was hoisted by a Pennsylvanian regiment in 1775, and in the flag of stripes used by the South Carolina Navy. In 1776 the flag hoisted in Massachusetts was described as ‘English Colours but more Striped’, i. e. a British Red Ensign but with white stripes across the field.”

National Flag

“[T]he concept of the ‘national flag’ is the direct consequence of political developments after the American and the French Revolution, where the idea of the flag representing the country and its people emerged.”

“The American flag was adopted to represent a multi-ethnic people; it symbolised first and foremost the attempt to break free from colonial domination. At the same time the ‘Stars and Stripes’ flag made a significant contribution to the modern flag tradition as an idea of a flag representing a ‘whole population’ as well as its government, and it also reflected the more egalitarian ideas of the time.”

“The ‘Stars and Stripes’ was created on the 14 July 1777 – by whom and where remains unclear – and it was used in different forms during the remainder of the War of Independence. It is worth noting that America did not have a flag representing it (or the colonies) prior to the conflicts with England.” (Elgenius)

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The resolution didn’t prescribe a certain arrangement, so the earliest flags display quite a variety of designs. (DAR) The number of stars on the American Flag has changed with time from 13 to 50 in order to correspond with the increasing number of states. (Elgenius)

Betsy Ross Flag

The origin of the first American flag is unknown. Some historians believe it was designed by New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson and sewn by Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Griscom Ross was born a fourth-generation American to a Quaker family on New Year’s Day of 1752 in the colonial city of Philadelphia.

Ross learned to sew from a great-aunt, and, after finishing school, apprenticed with a talented upholsterer in Philadelphia, where she met and married fellow apprentice John Ross, with whom she formed an upholstery business.

Among their customers was George Washington, for whom they sewed bed hangings in 1774 while he was in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. After the death of her husband at the start of the American Revolution, Ross continued to sew uniforms, tents, and flags for the Continental Army.

Historians have not been able to verify Ross’s legendary role as the creator of the Stars and Stripes. But the likely legendary story that in June 1776 General Washington consulted with Ross on the creation of a new flag, and she persuaded him to alter its stars from six-pointed to the easier-to-sew five-pointed took hold in the national patriotic imagination.

For generations Betsy Ross has stood as the symbol of feminine ingenuity and resourcefulness in service to the country. Her contributions to the founding of the United States are commonly represented, as in a 1952 stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of her birth, with the Stars and Stripes on her lap. (DOI)

Old Glory

The name Old Glory was given to a large, 10-by-17-foot flag by its owner, William Driver, a sea captain from Massachusetts.

Inspiring the common nickname for all American flags, Driver’s flag is said to have survived multiple attempts to deface it during the Civil War. Driver was able to fly the flag over the Tennessee Statehouse once the war ended. (PBS)

Star-Spangled Banner

In June 1813, Major George Armistead arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, to take command of Fort McHenry, built to guard the water entrance to the city.

Armistead commissioned Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, to sew two flags for the fort: a smaller storm flag (17 by 25 ft) and a larger garrison flag (30 by 42 ft). She was hired under a government contract and was assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured African-American girl.

The larger of these two flags would become known as the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Pickersgill stitched it from a combination of dyed English wool bunting (red and white stripes and blue union) and white cotton (stars). Each star is about two feet in diameter, each stripe about 24 inches wide.

The Star-Spangled Banner’s impressive scale (about one-fourth the size of a modern basketball court) reflects its purpose as a garrison flag. It was intended to fly from a flagpole about ninety feet high and be visible from great distances.

At its original dimensions of 30 by 42 feet, it was larger than the modern garrison flags used today by the United States Army, which have a standard size of 20 by 38 feet.

Between 1777 and 1960 Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state. On August 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman officially declared June 14 as Flag Day.

The first Flag Act, adopted on June 14, 1777, created the original United States flag of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes.

The Star-Spangled Banner has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes as provided for in the second Flag Act approved by Congress on January 13, 1794. The additional stars and stripes represent Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) joining the Union.

The third Flag Act, passed on April 4, 1818, reduced the number of stripes back to thirteen to honor the original thirteen colonies and provided for one star for each state – a new star to be added to the flag on the Fourth of July following the admission of each new state. (Smithsonian)

Today the flag consists of 13 horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white. The stripes represent the original 13 Colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well; red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.

JJune 14 also Marks the Anniversary of the Formation the Continental Army

On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted “the American continental army” after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole. This procedure and the desire for secrecy account for the sparseness of the official journal entries for the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOLU7Lp6cmw&list=PLRJNAhZxtqH8xTJcA1ATIkHzm_3plhGcz

Click the following links to general summaries about the Stars and Stripes:

Click to access Stars-and-Stripes-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access Stars-and-Stripes.pdf

April 2, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Flying the American Flag

“Twenty-eight members of the crew of the American armed steamer Aztec, 3,808 tons, which was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine are missing …” (Mercury, April 5, 1917)

Before we expand on this, let’s look back – both in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere.

Captain John Dominis was an Italian-American ship captain and merchant from New York who had been trading in the Pacific since the 1820s. In the 1840s, he purchased property on Beretania Street; he built a home for his family, Mary Lambert Dominis (his wife) and John Owen Dominis (his son.)

In 1847, on a voyage to China, Captain Dominis was lost at sea. To make ends meet, the widowed Mary then rented spare bedrooms; one of her tenants was American Commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck. Impressed with the white manor and grand columns out front, Ten Eyck said it reminded him of Mount Vernon (George Washington’s mansion) and that it should be named “Washington Place.”

King Kamehameha III, who concurred, Proclaimed as ‘Official Notice,’ “It has pleased His Majesty the King to approve of the name of Washington Place given this day by the Commissioner of the United States, to the House and Premises of Mrs. Dominis and to command that they retain that name in all time coming.” (February 22, 1848)

In 1862, John Owen Dominis married Lydia Kamakaʻeha (also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī.) Lydia Dominis described Washington Place “as comfortable in its appointments as it is inviting in its aspect.” Reportedly, the American flag flew at the residence until Mary Dominis’s death, when Liliuokalani had it removed. (Mary Dominis died on April 25, 1889, and the premises went to her son, John Owen Dominis, Governor of Oʻahu.)

Lydia was eventually titled Princess, and later became Queen Liliʻuokalani, in 1891. John Owen Dominis died shortly after becoming Prince consort (making Liliʻuokalani the second widow of the mansion;) title to the home then passed to Queen Liliʻuokalani.

On the continent, former Princeton University president and governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson was elected President in 1912; under him, the US proclaimed its neutrality from the beginning of World War I (in the summer of 1914.)

After the German sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania in May 1915 (which killed 1,201 people, including 128 Americans,) Wilson sent a strongly worded warning to Germany. After attempts to broker peace, then sinking of the American cargo ship Housatonic, Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

With German submarine warfare continuing unabated, the final straw came on April 1, 1917, when the armed merchant ship Aztec was sunk off the northwest coast of France by U-boat 46 under the command of Leo Hillebrand. The Aztec was on its way from New York to Le Havre, France with a cargo of timber, copper, steel, chemicals and machinery.

All twenty eight members of the crew were killed, including Boatswain’s Mate First Class John I Eopolucci, a Naval Armed Guard – the first US Navy sailor killed in action in World War I. The attack on the Aztec was the final straw and led to America’s intervention into World War I.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before Congress to deliver his historic war message and asked for a declaration of war against Germany. (history-com) Then as Congress convened, two more ships were sunk, the large freighter Missourian and the schooner Marguerite, with no casualties aboard either ship. On April 6, 1917, after twenty-nine months of official neutrality, the US declared war on Germany, formally entering World War I.

The passage of the war resolution by Congress, April 5, 1917, and the issuance of the President’s proclamation the next day declaring that “a state of war exists between the United States and the Imperial German Government,” was the signal for Hawaiʻi once more to declare its loyalty and pledge its unfaltering support of the nation’s cause. Appropriate resolutions were adopted by the legislature and by numerous clubs and organizations. (Kuykendall)

On the very day on which President Wilson delivered his memorable war message to Congress, the ground for his indictment of the German government was brought home to the people of this territory by news that five youths from Hawaiʻi had lost their lives in the sinking of the Aztec. (Kuykendall)

When the American steamer Aztec was sunk a few days ago by a German submarine, five Hawaiians … lost their lives …. Two of these Hawaiians were residents of Honolulu, the other three of Hawaiʻi. (Hawaiian Gazette, April 3, 1917).

The five Hawaiian merchant marines that were part of the Aztec crew were: John Davis, Charles Kanai, Eleka Kaohi, Julian R Macomber and Henry Rice (they were all civilians.)

Support grew for an event to mourn the loss of Hawaiʻi’s first war dead. In a memorial service for the five, held April 22, 1917, “The dead were eulogized as heroes who lost their lives while maintaining the right of the principle that the seas are free to all. About a pavilion platform that was decorated with the Star Spangled Banner and the flag of Hawaiʻi … more than 2000 gathered …”

“That the Hawaiians died in the service of their country in upholding American right of legitimate commerce at sea was emphasized by the presence on the platform of the heads of the military and naval service in Hawaiʻi, and there was a solemn martial atmosphere to the gathering to remind even casual spectators that this was a memorial service in war time.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 23, 1917)

“Senator HL Desha speaking in Hawaiian delivered an oration appropriate to the occasion. He spoke of the five brave men who died doing their duty and declared that for all we know on this earth, these men might have sacrificed their lives for the peace of the whole world.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 24, 1917)

Lorrin Andrews delivered an oration on what the American flag represents, “There is a Flag floating over this building which symbolizes to all of us that which we hold most dear. It was conceived in a struggle for liberty against oppression. It presided over the birth of the greatest republic that the world has ever seen, and it has always represented honor, freedom and justice.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 24, 1917)

Not long before her death in 1917, Queen Liliuokalani nobly expressed support of the United States in World War I by ordering that the American flag be flown over Washington Place. (hawaii-gov)

“For the first time in its long and picturesque history, Washington Place, home of Queen Liliʻuokalani, was decorated today with an American flag.”

“It was the occasion of the visit of the legislators to pay their respects to the aged queen and in view of the extraordinary crisis in international affairs and the prospect of patriotic war action by congress …”

“… the queen allowed the flag to be flown in honor of the government which years ago was responsible for her loss of a monarchy.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 3, 1917) (Reportedly, the American flag continued to fly over Washington Place.)

Liliʻuokalani continued to occupy Washington Place until her death later that year (November 11, 1917.)

April 16, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

George Charles Beckley

George Charles Beckley was known as “the English friend and military adviser of Kamehameha the Great.” (Taylor) Born in 1787, Beckley arrived in the Islands around 1804. About 1813, he married Ahia Kalanikumaikiʻekiʻe.

Ahia was daughter of Kaha, a trusted friend of Kamehameha I, a warrior and Kahuna Kalaiwaʻa (a priest who superintended the building of canoes) and of Makaloa, daughter of Malulani (k) and of Kelehuna (w) of Puna, Hawaiʻi. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

In preparation of Kamehameha’s conquest of the Islands, he ordered Kaha, “to build a war fleet to carry his invasion forces across the straits to the other islands. As each canoe was finished, to show the confidence he had in his skills, Kaha had his beautiful daughter Ahia ride each canoe on its sea trial.” (Dye)

Family traditions credit Beckley as being the designer of the Hawaiian Flag (other stories suggest the flag was designed by Alexander Adams, another trusted sea captain of Kamehameha – they may have designed it together (Adams later served as executor of Beckley’s estate and guardian of his children.))

The early Hawaiian flag looks much like the Hawaiʻi State flag of today, the apparent inspiration of the design being a melding of British and US flags, the most common foreign flags seen in Hawaiian waters at the time.

The original design had stripes (like the US flag) representing the eight major islands under one sovereign and the British Union Jack, representing the friendly relationship between England and Hawai‘i.

At the birth of the princess Nahiʻenaʻena (Kamehameha’s daughter) at Keauhou, Kona, in 1815, Beckley was made a high chief by Kamehameha, so that he might with impunity enter the sacred precinct, and present the royal infant with a roll of China silk, after which he went outside, and fired a salute of thirteen guns in her honor. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

“In consequence of his having become a tabu chief, his wife, Ahia, was thenceforth obliged by the ancient code of etiquette to “kolokolo” or crawl prone on hands and knees, when she entered the house of her lord.” (Hawaiian Historical Society)

In 1815, Kamehameha I granted some Russians permission to build a storehouse at Honolulu Harbor. Instead, they began building a fort against the ancient heiau of Pākākā and close to the King’s complex and raised the Russian flag. (Pākākā was the site of Kaua‘i’s King Kaumuali‘i’s negotiations relinquishing power to Kamehameha I.)

When Kamehameha discovered they were building a fort (rather than storehouses,) he sent several chiefs, along with John Young (his advisor) and Kalanimōku, to remove the Russians from Oʻahu by force, if necessary. The partially built blockhouse at Honolulu was finished by Hawaiians and mounted guns protected the fort.

Beckley was the first commander of the fort (known as Fort Kekuanohu or Fort Honolulu.) Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out. But, it was also used to keep things in (it also served as a prison.)

“Kareimoku (Kalanimōku) is always in the fort, where they are still at work, and the natives not being familiar with the use of cannon, they have appointed an Englishman, named George Berkley, who had formerly served in a merchantman as commandant. The fort is nothing more than a square, supplied with loop-holes, the walls of which are two fathoms high, and built of coral stone.” (Kotzebue)

The Beckleys had seven children, William (1815,) Maria (1817,) Localia (1818,) Mary (1820,) George (1823,) Hannah and Emmeline (1825.)

His oldest child, William Beckley, who was born at Keauhou, was brought up together with Kauikeaouli (later King Kamehameha III.) His two oldest daughters were brought up by Queen Kaʻahumanu. (Hawaiian Historical Society)

The diary of missionary Hiram Bingham notes, “Whatever of hostility may have been manifested against the spiritual claims of the Gospel by foreigners and others, we were encouraged in our efforts to commence a school by several residents, some wishing their wives, and others their children to be instructed.”

“Among them, were … Beckley (English)… These cherished a desire that their long neglected children, whose morals, habits, language, and manners differed little from their contemporaries – the children of aboriginal fathers – might now, at length, if they wished it, have the advantage of a school for their improvement.”

Apparently, marriage did not keep Beckley constantly in the Islands. Instead, after a couple of years, he followed the custom of the day and took his wife with him on his numerous long voyages between the Mexico and Canton, China. (Hawaiian Historical Society) He apparently also kept a home in Vera Cruz, Mexico. His youngest daughter Emmeline was born off the coast of Mexico.

Beckley had several Hawaiʻi properties, including: a farm with the fishing grounds called Kealahewa, situated in the district of Kohala, Island of Hawaiʻi, by King Kamehameha I (1811;) a farm with the fishing grounds called Kaliheawa, Kalihi, by Keōpūolani (1815;) a farm called Kawailole, situated at the mouth of the valley of Manoa, sold by Kalanimōku (then Governor of Oahu) (1815;) and house lot in Honolulu by King Kamehameha (1819.)

George Charles Beckley died April 16, 1826 in Honolulu. “He was buried agreeably to his wish within his own enclosure. A vault was dug within the walls of an unfinished house; and inclosed with bricks & lined with mats. A part of the church buryal service was read by Mr. Bingham, who afterwards made a short address to the bystanders both in English & Hawaii & closed with prayer.” (Chamberlain)

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April 18, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Flags

The American flag consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the “union”) bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars.

The 50-stars on the flag represent the 50-states and the 13-stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union.

The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields. National flags are patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses.

Since contact, various flags have flown over Hawai‘i.

The first “official” Hawai‘i flag was adopted in 1845, however prior to that various flags flew at various times.

All of the flags were hand-made back then; so, there might have been rather large variations in appearance.

Even in the late-Monarchy period, the appearance of flags varied a lot. Likewise, there is a possibility that some observers were wrong in what they saw and reported.

Visitors to Hawai’i pre-1845 reported different types of flags flying, including varying numbers of stripes, sometimes 7 or 9, for example. Observers also reported the colors of the stripes in different orders.

It is reported that Captain Vancouver gave a British Red Ensign to the king in the 1790s, which on later visits he found flying in places of honor.

Later, the Union Flag of Great Britain flew over Hawai‘i as its National Flag. The Union Flag (also known as the “King’s Colors”) of Great Britain was one of the flags used by the King’s forces during the American revolutionary War.

After that, the monarchy of Kamehameha I started to use a new flag, similar to the one used today by the State of Hawaii.

The flag’s origin can be traced to the War of 1812. At the time, King Kamehameha had been flying the British flag. American officers suggested the king show more neutrality.

Alexander Adams is credited with helping to design the Hawaiian flag – a new flag for Hawaiʻi was needed to avoid confusion by American vessels (prior to that time, Hawaiian vessels flew the British Union Jack.)

Family traditions also credit George Charles Beckley as being the designer of the Hawaiian Flag – they may have designed it together (Adams later served as executor of Beckley’s estate and guardian of his children.))

“The Hawaiian flag was designed for King Kamehameha I, in the year 1816. As the King desired to send a vessel to China to sell a cargo of sandal-wood, he in company with John Young, Isaac Davis and Alexander Adams … made this flag for the ship, which was a war vessel, called the Forrester, carrying 16 guns, and was owned by Kamehameha I.” (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, January 1, 1862)

On March 7, 1817, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi sent Adams to China to sell the sandalwood. When he sailed to China, it was the first vessel under the flag of Hawaiʻi.

Then, Kamehameha and his advisers collaborated on a new flag design, which combines elements from both the American and British flags.

This design had the Union Flag in the upper left quadrant with nine horizontal stripes alternating red, white and blue from the top. This flag was observed by Louis Choris in 1816.

For a short period of time, in 1843, Lord George Paulet, representing the British Crown, overstepped his bounds, landed sailors and marines, seized the government buildings in Honolulu and raised the British Union Jack and issued a proclamation formally annexing Hawaii to the British Crown. This event became known as the Paulet Affair.

On July 31, 1843, after five-months of occupation, the Hawaiian Kingdom was restored and Admiral Thomas ordered the Union Jack removed and replaced with the Hawaiian kingdom flag.

That day is now referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies.

At the opening of the Legislative Council, May 25, 1845, the new national banner was unfurled, differing little however from the former.

Eight stripes: first, fourth and seventh are silver represented by the color white; second, fifth and eighth are red, and the third and sixth are light purplish blue.

The stripes represent the eight major islands under one sovereign. The Union Jack represented the friendly relationship between England and Hawai‘i.

Subsequent annexation, territorial and statehood status caused the Hawaiian flag to fly with the flag of the United States.

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