The flag has figured prominently in several international episodes.
The Hawaiian Islands were fertile fields to greedy land-loving rovers of the seas. In 1842 [[205]]and 1843 Mr. Charlton, an English consul, made trouble for the Hawaiian chiefs by laying claim to a very valuable piece of land in Honolulu, which the chiefs claimed could not possibly have been given to him by the rightful owners. This was the foundation of a series of disagreements. The consul was an open advocate of English annexation, and reported a dangerous state of affairs to England. Finally, leaving his consulate in the hands of a friend, he went to England to present his own claims. Meanwhile, a captain of an English frigate, Lord George Paulet, was sent to Honolulu. He seized upon every pretext for advancing his intention of seizing the islands in the name of the English crown. The king, Ka-meha-meha III, meanwhile made earnest protest and planned resistance, but his wise counsellors persuaded him not to give Lord Paulet any pretext for action, but to forestall him by making a provisional cession of the kingdom pending the appeal to the protection of the United States and England. On February 25, 1843, the Hawaiian flag was hauled down and the Union Jack was once more raised over a part of the islands. On February 25, 1794, forty-nine years before, Vancouver’s flag-raising ceremony had taken place. Like Vancouver, Lord Paulet evidently had little doubt about England’s glad welcome of a new colonial possession.
Ka-meha-meha III made a short speech of protest, closing with the words: “I have hope that [[206]]the life of the land will be restored when my conduct shall be justified.” Lord Paulet then took possession of the fort, confiscated Hawaiian ships, compelled natives to enlist to form an English army, and began to increase taxes to meet the expenses of his new government. The king withdrew to another island, and, with his cabinet, disclaimed the authority of Lord Paulet, and continued to appeal to England.
This triumphal flight of the English flag was not at all permanent. In the first part of July, about four months and a half after Lord Paulet’s seizure of the islands, Commodore Kearney, in the old U. S. frigate Constitution, entered Honolulu harbour. The native chiefs visited his ship. Lord Paulet had collected all the Hawaiian flags and destroyed them, but a new flag was hastily made and raised over the visitors, and a salute fired in its honour—to Lord Paulet’s helpless indignation.
However, in the new flag the colors of the bars were permanently reversed. In this respect the modern Hawaiian flag is different from the flag first made.
A few days later Admiral Thomas, commander of the English navy in the Pacific, arrived in Honolulu, and “in most courteous terms solicited a personal interview with the king.” In a few hours it became known that he had come to restore the independence of the islands.
On Monday morning, July 31, 1843, the admiral [[207]]issued a proclamation restoring the islands to their king, and incidentally mentioning in high terms the work of the American missionaries. Monday forenoon, “a parade of several hundred English marines appeared on the plain of Honolulu (now known as Thomas Square), with their officers, their banners waving proudly and their arms glittering in the sunbeams. Admiral Thomas and the suspended king proceeded thither in a carriage, attended by the chiefs and a vast multitude of people. The English standard bearers advanced towards his majesty, their flags bowed gracefully, and a broad, beautiful Hawaiian banner, exhibiting a crown and olive branch, was unfurled over the heads of the king and his attending chieftains. This was saluted by the English troops with field pieces, then by the guns of Lord Paulet’s ship, whose yards were manned in homage to the restored sovereign. Then succeeded the roar of the guns of the fort, Punchbowl battery, the admiral’s ship, the United States ships and others.”
“Thomas Square” was so named and set apart as a perpetual park near the heart of the city, in honour of this action of Admiral Thomas. Monday afternoon the king and chiefs and several thousand people gathered in the new native stone church, Kawaiahao, and held an enthusiastic praise meeting. The king in an eloquent speech uttered a motto worthy of the highest statesmanship. This was later adopted as the national motto and inscribed [[208]]on all Hawaiian coins: Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono—“Perpetuated is the life of the land by its righteousness,” or “The perpetuation of the life of the land depends upon the righteousness thereof.” The church was beautifully decorated and on the pulpit was the restored Hawaiian flag. The “army” enlisted by Lord Paulet gladly renounced allegiance to England. The ships were restored and the king’s cabinet again took the reins of government. It was not long before word came that Europe and America had, as early as April, recognised the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Undeterred by this English experience, a Frenchman thought it worth his while to secure the little kingdom. In 1849 Admiral Tromelin sailed into Honolulu harbour and made some emphatic demands, alleging that the king had unlawfully fined a French ship. The king replied that the ship had violated his laws and was necessarily held responsible. The admiral at once landed an armed force with field pieces and scaling ladders and captured the fort. The king, however, had withdrawn his troops, leaving an empty fort with the Hawaiian flag flying from its staff. The Frenchman did not quite dare to pull that flag down in the face of very earnest protests from both the English and American consuls. The French smashed calabashes, spiked the guns, poured powder into the harbour, wrote on the walls of the fort that they were “Les [[209]]Braves” and then withdrew, turning their trouble over to their home government. For nearly two years the French made trouble. At last the king, Ka-meha-meha III, became tired and placed his kingdom “provisionally under the protection of the United States,” declaring that the protectorate should be “perpetual” if the relations with France were not placed on a better footing. The Frenchmen soon discovered that the difficulties could be easily settled, and the long list of grievances “were reduced to two points, viz., the liberty of Catholic worship and the trade in spirits.” This last meant the abundant entrance of French brandy. “Nothing more was heard of the rest of the demands.”
Flag episodes after these experiences were limited to ordinary affairs of government. Sometimes it floated proudly over fort and palace, while salutes were fired from men-of-war entering the harbour. Sometimes it hung at half mast over the palace while the body of some member of the royal family or some one of high chief blood lay in state. Sometimes its absence from the palace marked the king’s departure for some other island. Its reappearance was the signal of the king’s return. It floated over ministers’ and consuls’ offices in different parts of the world and fulfilled its modest duty as the representative of one of “the little kings.”