Datei:Hawaiian vessel flying the royal standard, watercolor by Alexander Adams (PP-23-2-022).jpg

English: Alexander Adams’ watercolor of a vessel, probably the King’s yacht, Kamehameha III, flying the royal standard, ca. 1840s.

According to Askman, Douglas V. (2013). "Royal Standards of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, 1837–1893". Hawaiian Journal of History 47. Honolulu: Hawaiian Historical Society, pp. 65–67.

In addition, more corroborating evidence is provided by an illus- tration of the royal standard from the Kamehameha dynasty although its specific date is unclear. However, it is most likely from the reign of Kamehameha III. This watercolor drawing is found in the journal of Alexander Adams. Adams, of Scottish origin, arrived in Hawai‘i dur- ing the reign of Kamehameha I (r. 1795–1819). Having served in the British Royal Navy, Adams joined the naval forces of Kamehameha the Great. His familiarity with the Hawaiian national flag is strong indeed as Adams is often reputed to be the original designer of the flag. This claim, however, is not entirely clear.11

A black and white image of the drawing made by Adams of the royal standard is in the collection of the Hawai‘i State Archives. Although undated, the image is certainly from the time of the Kame- hameha dynasty as Adams died in 1871 during the reign of Kame- hameha V (r. 1863–1872). Moreover, the illustration is probably from the time of Kamehameha III, most likely, in fact, within a few years of the adoption of the 1845 Hawaiian royal standard. Adams’ drawing shows the King’s flag flying from a ship. According to Victor S.K. Houston, who served as Hawai‘i’s territorial delegate to the United States Congress from 1927 to 1933, the vessel from which the King’s standard is hoisted in Adams’ illustration is the Hawaiian royal yacht, Kamehameha III. Houston bases his claim on another illustration in Adams’ journal in which the author has painted a ship and labeled it the Kamehameha III. This yacht is very similar in appearance to Adams’ watercolor of the vessel displaying the royal standard.12

If Houston’s assertion is correct, Adams’ illustration of the royal standard was probably drawn within a few years of the 1845 adop- tion of the King’s banner. This is because the royal yacht Kamehameha III, which arrived in Hawai‘i from Boston in 1846, was seized by the French navy in 1849 and sailed to Tahiti during a conflict between France and the Hawaiian Kingdom.13 Adams’ drawing of the Hawai- ian royal standard depicts a background of eight stripes of alternating colors. Placed on this in the center of the flag is the Kingdom’s coat of arms set on a white square.

Finally, physical evidence attesting to the design of the 1845 Kame- hameha royal standard can be found in the surviving royal standards from the subsequent Kalākaua dynasty. These royal flags feature the eight alternating white, red, and blue stripes of the Hawaiian national flag without the Union Jack in the upper-left corner. In the center of the design on a white square is a simplified version of the Kingdom’s coat of arms used during the Kalākaua dynasty. This heraldic device is based on the design proposed by Ha‘alilio and Richards. Thus, the royal banners from the late nineteenth-century fit the basic description given by Wyllie in 1845 and closely resemble the illustration done by Adams probably during the reign of Kamehameha III. Therefore, the 1845 emblem almost certainly had the same basic appearance as the Kalākaua ­era standard.