Today is Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day. It was Hawaiʻi’s first national holiday and it’s vital to understand the importance and role of the Hae Hawaiʻi in establishing this holiday. In what is now known as Thomas Square, our Hae Hawaiʻi was raised once again on July 31, 1843, after a rogue coup by British naval officer Captain Lord George Paulet the previous February, at which time all Hae Hawaiʻi were destroyed. Thus, it was at a formal ceremony on this day, as the Hae Hawaiʻi was