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In 1793 Captain George Vancouver from Great Britain presented the Union Jack to the conquering king Kamehameha I, who was then uniting the islands into a single state; the Union Jack flew unofficially as the flag of Hawaii until 1816. That year Western advisers to the king recommended the addition of red, white, and blue stripes to the Union Jack, thus creating a distinctive national flag for the country. After a brief British occupation of Hawaii in 1843, King Kamehameha III increased the number of stripes on the national flag to eight, corresponding to the major islands. There were also other Hawaiian flags, including a naval ensign, a jack, and a royal standard.
American business interests supported the overthrow of the Hawaiian government in January 1893, whereupon they hoisted the Stars and Stripes. Rebuffed in their attempt to secure annexation by the United States, the new leaders proclaimed Hawaii a republic in 1894 under its former national flag. On August 12, 1898, however, Hawaii became a U.S. territory, and 61 years later it was admitted to the Union as the 50th state. The former national flag was adopted, unchanged, by both the territory and the state. There is no official symbolism for the colors, which were probably influenced by the national symbols of other Pacific island kingdoms as well as by the flags of the foreign powers that first visited Hawaii (the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and France). |
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Hawaii
Official name: State of Hawaii.
State nickname: the Aloha State.
Total area: 6,459 sq mi, 16,729 sq km.
Population (2000): 1,211,537.
Population by race, origin (1997): white non-Hispanic 29.2%; white Hispanic 4.1%; black (including Hispanic) 2.9%; American Indian/Eskimo/Aleut 0.6%; Asian/Pacific Islander 63.2%.
Natural increase rate per 1,000 population (1995): 9.3 (U.S. avg. 6.0).
Gross domestic (state) product (1996): U.S.$36,300,000,000 (U.S.$30,680 per capita).
Land use (1992): federal land 10.7%; non-federal land 89.3%, of which forest 36.6%, cropland 6.8%, pasture 2.2%, rangeland 22.8%, urban and built-up areas 4.2%, other 16.7%.
Exports by state (1997): U.S.$334,000,000; percent of national total 0.05%.
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