Thomas Square

Thomas Square is a park in Honolulu, Hawaii, named for Admiral Richard Darton Thomas. The Privy Council voted to increase its boundaries on March 8, 1850, making Thomas Square Hawaii's oldest city park. It is one of four sites in Hawaii where the Hawaiian flag is allowed to fly alone without the United States flag.

Thomas Square is a park in Honolulu, Hawaii, named for Admiral Richard Darton Thomas. The Privy Council voted to increase its boundaries on March 8, 1850, making Thomas Square Hawaii's oldest city park. It is one of four sites in Hawaii where the Hawaiian flag is allowed to fly alone without the United States flag.

Background

In February 1843, Lord George Paulet on seized and occupied the Kingdom of Hawaii during the Paulet Affair. On July 26, Admiral Richard Darton Thomas sailed into Honolulu harbor on his flagship . He became Local Representative of the British Commission by outranking Paulet. His intention was to end the occupation. On July 31, he held the Hawaiian flag in his hands as he officially transferred the islands back to King Kamehameha III, who said the words Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono in a speech during a ceremony to mark his restoration. Roughly translated from the Hawaiian language, it means, "The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness" and has become Hawaii's state motto, incorporated into the Seal of Hawaii. The British flag set was pulled down and the Hawaiian flag was raised, followed by a series of 21 gun salutes from the Fort, the British ships Carysfort, Dublin, Hazzard, the American ship Constellation, and lastly by guns at the park. In 1850 Kamehameha III named the place where the ceremony was held in Downtown Honolulu "Thomas Square" in Admiral Thomas's honor and dedicated it as a public park.

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371364518 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.