Ku'u Hae Aloha – My beloved flag
Hawaiian flag quilt
1890s
Gift of the Duebner Children 2005
The design of the Hawaiian flag has remained unchanged for nearly 200 years. It incorporates elements from the flags of the United States and the United Kingdom, two nations with the greatest influence on the Kingdom of Hawaii in the 1800s. The Hawaiian flag first appeared sometime between 1806 and 1816, with slight changes made to its appearance until 1845, when the current design became permanent.
Flag quilts are nearly as old, with the first documented examples being created in the 1870s and '80s. While it is difficult to determine the actual story, there is a large body of evidence that suggests the making of flag quilts was sparked by an unauthorized British captain's attempt to oust the reigning Hawaiian monarch more than fifty years before the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani.
In February of 1843, Royal Navy Captain George Paulet arrived in Honolulu aboard the frigate HMS Carysfort. Paulet tried to meet directly with King Kamehameha III to address concerns about the rights of British citizens in the Kingdom of Hawaii. When the meeting was not forthcoming, he threatened to attack Honolulu. Paulet appointed himself and three others as the new provisional government of Hawai'i and ordered the destruction of all Hawaiian flags, raising the Union Jack in their place.
Paulet's takeover of the Kingdom was short-lived. His superior, Rear Admiral Richard Thomas, returned sovereignty on July 31. On this occasion, Kamehameha III uttered his famous statement "Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono" — the life, or sovereignty, of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. This phrase lives on today as the state motto of Hawaiʻi.
After Lili'uokalani was deposed in 1893, Hawaiian women created flag quilts to show their support for the royal family, and their opposition to their ouster and the annexation of Hawai'i to the United States. Oftentimes, the seamstress would incorporate the royal coat of arms to make clear to whom the quilt was dedicated.