King Kamehameha III - Aliiolani Hale - Honolulu, Oahu, HI
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denben
N 21° 18.337 W 157° 51.589
4Q E 618260 N 2356399
A quote from King Kamehameha III is etched above the clock on the facade of Aliiolani Hale located in the historic capitol district of downtown Honolulu.
Waymark Code: WMRD7B
Location: Hawaii, United States
Date Posted: 06/12/2016
Views: 1
The Aliiolani Hale was originally intended to be a royal palace for King Kamehameha V but instead it was used to house the government offices of the Hawaiian Kingdom. King Kamehameha V himself laid the first cornerstone for the building in early 1872, but he died on his birthday later that year, before the building was completed. The building was dedicated in 1874 by King David Kalakaua. The Aliiolani Hale was designed by Australian Thomas Rowe. It was completely renovated in 1911 and a new wing was added in the 1940's.
From 1874 through 1893 - when the Hawaiian Monarchy was overthrown - the building housed most of the government offices, legislature, and courts of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The building was used by the Government of the Republic of Hawaii for a few years, and beginning in 1900 it housed the offices of the United States Territory of Hawaii. Today it is the home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court, the Hawaii State Judiciary Administrative Offices, the Judiciary History Center, Hawaii's largest law library and the statue of Kamehameha the Great.
Two inscriptions engraved on the facade of the building, above and below the clock read: "Kamehameha Elima. Ka Moi," meaning "Kamehameha the Fifth, the King." and "Ua Mau ke o ka Aina i ka Pono".
"Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono" is a well-known Hawaiian phrase which was adopted as the motto of the state of Hawaii. It is commonly translated as "The life of the land is preserved in righteousness of the people".
This phrase was first spoken by Kamehameha III on July 31, 1843 at Thomas Square, Oahu, when the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaii was returned by the British through the restorative actions of Admiral Richard Darton Thomas, following a brief takeover by Lord George Paulet.
Today, a more accurate translation is accepted as "The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." Admiral Thomas did what was righteous (pono) by returning the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaii to Kamehameha III on that day.
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