HONOLULU — After 130 years, Queen Liliuokalani’s Royal Standard, the queen’s personal flag, returned home to Hawaii, welcomed by an official ceremony at Washington Place on Monday morning.
Led by the conch blowing, a procession composed of members of the Royal Societies and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs accompanied the Queen's Royal Standard, which was carried by Royal Guards and Sheriff bearers. They made their way from Iolani Palace to Washington Place.
Gov. Josh Green and First Lady Jaime Kanani Green formally welcomed and received the Royal Standard.
Government officials, representatives from Native Hawaiian organizations and various individuals attended the event that was broadcast live and will be rebroadcast on Olelo Community Media Channel 54.
The crowd viewed the procession on live monitors and waiting in calm anticipation. Among them was Doni Leinaʻala Chong of ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu.
“Today, the ‘Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu, we are just so thankful to be here as guests of Governor Green and Jamie Green,” said Chong. “But more importantly, we are just relishing this cherished moment of the coming home of our beloved Queen and her spirit. And just the ʻuhane that she felt for her people. So having this moment with her and with all these dear friends here, it's just something that is so memorable, and we will always keep it in our puʻuwai, our hearts.”
Queenie Cavaco said, “For me, it’s very emotional today. You know, it just gives you chicken skin. We can’t wait to see the procession when they’re finally bringing it home. You know, for us Hawaiians, it means a lot.”
Also in attendance were representatives from the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, Mamakakaua. Coline Aiu is the kuhina nui or president of the organization. She explains that Mamakakaua is not an organization that began after the overthrow. They were the supporters of Queen Liliʻuokalani and royalty when they were alive, and wear the ʻahu, the cape covering the shoulders, as representatives of their families who had come before them.
“Today’s event is the returning of the personal standard of our Queen Liliuokalani after 130 years here to Washington Place,” said Aiu. “Today is a very special day, I think because it underscores our queen’s faith in God and mankind that injustices will be corrected, maybe not in the way that we expect and maybe to what degree of returning and retribution, but I think the most important thing is that her faith is today confirmed that God is a good God. And our Hawaiian people always knew that. He was the creator, and he would always bring a proud goodness and rightness. And that’s why our (state) motto is, ‘Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono.’”
Sarah Keahi, of the same organization, added, “Our queen, in her mele, the ‘Queen's Prayer,’ in the third verse — now she was queen and she was forced to give up her throne — but in the third verse, she says, ‘Mai nana ʻinoʻino, na hewa o kanaka,’ ‘Don’t look upon the evils of men, but forgive them.’ She asked for forgiveness for the people who imprisoned her. How much more humanitarian can you be? She was a woman of deep aloha, deep faith.”
Aiu said, “And she trusted in God’s time. You know, for us five years is too long, 10 years is ridiculous, a generation passes, and we’re upset. But I think our Hawaiian people always believed that there was life on our land. And she certainly demonstrated that.
“When she was a child and she witnessed the restoration, the ea (sovereignty) of Hawaii restored at Thomas Square, she was a young child watching her uncle Kamehameha III, believe and trust that a great power — after research and finding out injustice had been done — would restore the truthful kingdom. And so that was her basis, a precedent had been set by her uncle. And now that was going to be her platform as she gave over the kingdom, not because of anything that she had done wrong or her people, but because of the great power of the United States.”
Upon the arrival of the Queen’s Royal Standard to Washington Place, Aiu and Keahi, along with two other members of the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, preceded the procession into the home. Once inside, the queenʻs flag was revealed and placed on an open display board.
Kumu Kaleo Trinidad performed an oli kāhea and Kumu Vicky Holt Takamine performed an oli komo, a call or request to enter a space.
First Lady Jaime Kanani Green, wife of Gov. Josh Green, addressed the crowd with emotion prior to Gov. Green's remarks.
“Her (Liliʻuokalani’s) personal Royal Standard is not just a historical artifact,” said Green. “Its return represents the perpetuation of her legacy. She put the well-being of her people first. It symbolizes her personal sacrifice to secure the prosperity and peace for her people.”Following additional remarks by Louise “Gussie” Schubert, president of Washington Place Foundation, and Hawaii State Archivist Adam Jansen, guests were invited to view Queen Liliʻuokalani’s Royal Standard up close.
As individual groups stood before the queen’s personal flag, each presented an oli to welcome the queen home.
“A lot of mixed emotions,” said Schubert when asked to share her thoughts on the return of the Queen’s Royal Standard. “The standard is a very important part to her personally that I am so grateful to have it home, along with other pieces that have been given away, moved away, that are slowly being returned home.
“My family, the Dominis family, we've always felt that you need to learn from your past to make your journey into the future. And to learn about these pieces, to have an actual visual item in front of you ... the emotions are just not something I can explain. Tears were shed today, but tears of joy, and just having a moment and being able to let people know that things of history, things that belong to her — personally or even just to the home, because that's what I'm tied to — is important to everybody here in the islands,” said Schubert.
“It was wonderful to see the standard,” said Paula Akana, executive director of The Friends of Iolani Palace. “And, you know, during the ceremony, they talked about how we can’t move forward until we understand our past; that right there shows us some of the really bittersweet memories that we have. Just seeing it, it was just remarkable.
“To see the tears and the tatters in it what it’s probably been through — that we have no idea what it’s been through during this last century-plus. I think for our lāhui, to see something like that return home is a joyous celebration, and at the same time, sadness,” said Akana.
When asked if the Queen’s Royal Standard would be shown at Iolani Palace, Akana said she didn’t think so. “But I think it’s so appropriate to be here because this is where it flew; it never flew at the palace.”
She added that to share information on the royal standards would be a full educational study in itself since every aliʻi had their own unique royal standard.
State Archivist Adam Jansen was one of the individuals who played a role in securing the Queen’s Royal Standard and returning it home.
An article written by Denby Fawcett for Civil Beat said Jansen was the one who flew to New York to bring home the Royal Standard, along with the personal letters and documents of Col. John Soper that provided first-hand accounts of what went on during that time. Soper was put in charge of the troops that threatened violence if Queen Liliʻuokalani didn’t step down peacefully.
“As one of the members of the team that had to do this, I’m truly honored and blessed to have been a part of this,” shared Jansen. “To see how deeply it affects Hawaiians to bring back parts of their documentarian cultural heritage, and how powerful that act can be, helps us understand and address the past. And until we do that, as a society, we cannot move forward in a cohesive way.”
What were his thoughts when his return flight touched ground on Hawaii soil?
“It was such a sense of relief to know the journey that this Royal Standard had to go through, the 130 years it had been away from its home … and to be a part of that, and to be entrusted with that duty, really emphasizes the magnitude of what was being done,” responded Jansen.
Regarding Col. Soper’s personal papers, Jansen said they don’t just document the overthrow of 1893. It includes Soper’s time as kingdom marshal, dealing with the Wilcox rebellion in 1889, his role as commander in chief of the provisional government forces, his role in the counter revolution of 1895, and more.
It also included biographical material that Soper starting writing for an autobiography said Jansen. “So he’s telling his story, both formally in written reports, as well as a narrative of his life, in addition to photographs, some of which we’ve never seen before, and originals in pretty good condition.
“So it really helps reinforce the story behind the Queen’s standard, because you heard the quotes, you know, we’re using Soper’s own words to detail exactly what occurred. And it was those words that we used to build the case, that these are public artifacts, and they belong to the people. And so it was fortunate that those two things had stayed together. So that we really had an ironclad case moving forward,” said Jansen.
He said for now, the standard will be housed at the state archives for restoration work. “There are tears, holes. It’s quite literally falling apart.”
According to Jansen, Washington Place is a beautiful home, but it doesn’t meet the environmental standards to preserve such artifacts over the long term, but they are working on it.
In the meantime, the standard will be protected in the archives’ environmental temperature- and humidity-controlled vault where it’ll undergo conservation work to stabilize it and be accessible for generations to come.
“It’s our sincere desire (to bring it back to Washington Place),” said Jansen.
“And I think it really bears mentioning that a huge mahalo nui loa goes to Princess Kawananakoa and Brendan Damon Ethington for stepping forward and saying, ʻNo, let’s do this now,ʻ” said Jansen in reference to their donation of $30,000 each for a total of $60,000 to purchase the items from a London-based auction house.
“I mean, that was a critically important piece. Otherwise, we would still be talking, we’d still be in court. Who knows how many appeals and delays could have happened,” said Jansen. “The fact that they understood the magnitude as equally as well and were willing to give of themselves for the betterment of the people really reinforces the lessons that Her Majesty was trying to teach us.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: The article has been updated to clarify the welcoming of the procession. (July 25, 2023)
Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.