Until 1816, the chiefs of the various islands had considered themselves under British protection and flew the Union Flag. By 1816, the need for a distinctive Hawaiian flag became apparent when Hawaiian ships began trading island sanda wood in Canton(now Guangzhou), China.

A serious incident, sometimes called the Paulet Affair, took place in 1843 when British Lord George Paulet of the HMS Carysfort entered Honolulu Harbor and captured it because of reported insults and malpractices against British subjects. Paulet demanded that King Kamehameha III abdicate and that the Hawaiian Islands be ceded to the British Crown. Under the guns of the frigate, Kamehameha stepped down, but lodged a formal protest with both the British government and Paulet's superior, Admiral Richard Thomas. Thomas repudiated Paulet's actions, and on July 31, 1843, restored the Hawaiian government.

There were eight royal monarchs of Hawaii, from the formation of the Kingdom in 1810, until the overthrow of the Monarchy in 1893. This was one of their royal standards.

It is interesting to note that Hawaii is the only U.S. state that was once a kingdom with its own monarchy. The only real royal palaces in the United States are in Hawaii.

King David Kalakaua, sometimes called the "Merrie Monarch," was the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. The Hawaiian legislature appointed him king in 1874 and he ruled until his death in San Francisco in 1891. Kalakaua was a scholar, musician, inventor, composer, and world traveler. He, and his wife Queen Kapiolani, traveled all over the world attempting to gather goodwill and support for Hawai'i, and while he was away, his sister, Queen Liliuokalani ruled as regent. The Iolani Palace was built during his reign in 1882. Kalakaua attempted to increase the power of the Hawaiian monarchy and its native people, which angered many foreign settlers living in Hawai'i. The foriegners, mostly Americans, eventually forced him to accept a new "Bayonet Constitution," which gave them power over Hawaii. His last sad words before his death were, "Tell my people I tried." He was succeeded by his sister Queen Liliuokalani.

Queen Lili‘uokalani was the last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands. She reigned from 1891 to 1893. Unfortunately for her, American businessmen and settlers overthrew her royal government and established a puppet constitutional monarchy supported by the American military. In 1898, Hawaii was completely annexed by the United States and she was forced to give up her throne. She would spend the rest of her life trying to regain her title, her people's rights, and protecting their traditions. This flag has been identified as Queen Liliuokalani's Royal Standard.

Princess Miriam Likelike (1851–1887) was the younger sister of Princess (later Queen) Lydia Liliuokalani, and thus second in line for the throne of King David Kalakaua. In 1870, she married Archibald Scott Cleghorn, a businessman from Scotland almost twice her age. Five years later she gave birth to a daughter, Princess Kaiulani, who would be the only Kalakaua of her generation. From that time on Kaiulani became the focus her life and the future of the kingdom she might one day inherit. The marriage didn't last, however, and in the end the princess simply returned to Big Island of Hawaii and refused to go back to her husband. She later served as Governor of the island in 1879-1880.

Crown Princess Victoria Kaiulani (1875-1899) was the daughter of Princess Miriam Likelike, and the last heir to the Hawaiian throne. She became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and determination. After the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, she spearheaded a campaign to restore the Kingdom. In New York, she made many speeches and public appearances denouncing the overthrow of her government. In Washington, D.C., she spoke before the United States Congress and pleaded with U.S. President Benjamin Harrison and later Grover Cleveland, but her negotiations could not prevent eventual annexation.

The Kuhina Nui, which translates directly as "Great Minister," but was generally translated as "Premier" in the first half of the 19th century, was an official, generally the Queen or some other member of the Royal Family, could exercise all the executive powers of the King if necessary.

The Hawaiian navy developed from the village warriors of Kona under Kamehameha I, who unified Hawaii in 1810. The navy used both traditional canoes and uniforms like the gourd helmets and loincloths, as well as western technology like artillery cannons, muskets, and small European ships. When Kamehameha died in 1819 he left his son Liholiho a large "navy" with thousands of warcanoes and a few larger warships.

Hawaii lost its independence to an armed revolt led by American residents in 1893, and was annexed to the United States in 1898.

On August 12, 1898, Hawaii became a U.S. territory, and 61 years later it was admitted to the Union as the 50th state. In 1960, a star was added to the flag of the United States representing Hawaii, and bringing the total number of stars on the U.S. flag to 50.

Prior to World War II, US Army commands in major overseas territories of the US were called departments. A department was roughly equivalent to a corps; but besides its basic defense mission with assigned combat units, it had general responsibility for command and control of all Army units in the territory. The Hawaiian Department was introduced in 1922. In 1944, the Hawaiian Department was renamed the Central Pacific Base Command, but the flag remained unchanged.

The flag used by the Governor of Hawaii is a red and blue bicolor with a circle of eight white stars. The eight stars stand for the eight major islands in the Hawaii chain. They are Hawaii, Oahu, Kauai, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Maui, Molokai and Niihau.

The Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiian) flag is said to have been Kamehameha’s personal flag long before the modern Hawaiian flag. According to its creators, British Navy Captain Lord George Paulet destroyed the Kanaka Maoli when he took control of Hawaii for five months in 1843. However, the flag that Paulet confiscated was the red, white and blue striped Hawaiian flag devised around 1816 for Kamehameha I and of which the modern US State flag is directly descended. The Kanaka Maoli flag is a modern commercial invention hoping to appeal to those supporting a Hawaiian sovereignty movement. The Kanaka Maoli Flag was created in 2001 by Gene Simeona and then produced by his business partner Stan Fonseca. There is no historical evidence of the flag´s existance before this time.

Since Hawaii became part of the United States there have been several local groups or movements whose goals were independence for Hawaii. The Nation of Hawai'i is a pro-independence group of people who claim descent from the original inhabitants of the islands. They use a white-yellow-black horizontal tricolored flag with a "Kahili" symbol in the middle yellow band. The Ka Lahui Hawai, also known as the Polynesian Sovereignty Movement, are another group desiring independence who use a flag with a white constellation of stars placed on a dark blue field.

Hawai'i Ko Aloha Flag 2004

A third group, known as Hawai'i Ko Aloha claim to represent all the lineal descendants of Hawaiians from Maka'ainana to Alii. The colors of the background of their Flag represent the Nine islands of the inhabited Hawaiian chain prior to the arrival of the western exploiters. The saying Hawaii ko Aloha means "Love of our land of Hawaii."