Most visitors who pass the small park across from the Honolulu Museum of Art never stop. It’s a triangle of lawn with a big banyan tree, a statue of a king in bronze, and two flagpoles. On any normal day, nothing about it tells you that the ground you’re standing on once belonged to a different country.
July 31 is not a normal day.
This year marks the 183rd anniversary of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea — Sovereignty Restoration Day — the July 31, 1843 ceremony at that exact spot where the Hawaiian flag went back up the pole after five months of British occupation. If you’re going to be on Oʻahu at the end of July, it’s one of the more meaningful free cultural events you can attend, and almost no visitor knows about it.
