Before researching this column, I would have answered these three questions confidently and … incorrectly.

What is the official state sport? My answer: Surfing, obviously. 

That’s partially correct. Outrigger canoe paddling was designated the official team sport in 1986 before surfing became the state’s official individual sport in 1998.

What is the Aloha Spirit? My answer: A warm, positive sense of being that can’t be captured in the English language. 

Legislators actually codified a good description in 1986. So, while I still think the spirit of aloha transcends words, it is defined in state law. 

What is Hawaii’s state fish? My answer: The humuhumunukunukuapuaa!

The law that designated our official state fish was repealed in 1990 and re-instituted permanently in 2006. Today, the humuhumunukunukuapuaa is our official state fish. However, if you were, like me, singing along with Keiki Calabash in the early ’90s, our “famous little fish” wasn’t as “o-fish-al” as the song suggested.

These are the things you discover when you find yourself decades deep in the Session Laws of Hawaii seeking the origins of Hawaii’s Emblems and Symbols statutes.

In my journey down this rabbit hole, I read the final acts of the 1959 Hawaii Territorial Legislature that designated our state motto, state seal, and official nickname “The Aloha State” in the months before statehood in 1959. 

I found a variety of flora and fauna that legislators through time deemed symbolic of our state. The humpback whale became our official marine mammal in 1979. But that didn’t stop legislators from naming a second marine mammal – the Hawaiian monk seal – as the official state mammal in 2008. The opeapea (aka the Hawaiian hoary bat) joined the ranks of Hawaii’s fauna designates as the official land mammal in 2015.

Our flora category has experienced similar growth. Since the kukui tree was adopted as our state tree in 1959, we establish the yellow hibiscus as our state flower, kalo as our state plant, and the ohia lehua as our state’s official endemic tree. This year, the Legislature passed a bill to add an official state limu to the list.  

This new designation was the catalyst for my journey through our legislative history. 

At first, I thought a review of the symbols we’ve enshrined in law might make for a fun column. California designated a state fife and drum band, and Washington has an official Scottish tartan. You never know what you might find in these sections of the law.

But what started as a personal trivia challenge quickly became an enriching, learning experience that made me feel more connected to my home. That’s the real power of symbols. These trees, sports, birds and flowers are tangible manifestations of the ideals, values, and histories that remind us of who we are and where we come from. 

Big Island Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa’s bill to make limu kala the official state limu is the perfect example. 

Kahaloa explained that the bill is the result of conversations that took place during last year’s “Year of the Limu” as advocates worked to bring awareness to the cultural and ecological significance of limu in Hawaii’s oceans.

Limu is a critical component of our nearshore ecosystem with a direct impact on our fish population. As a food source, it provides high nutrition with a low environmental impact. For these reasons, this designation is very much meant to point us toward a sustainable future. But it’s also about preserving tradition, as Kahaloa points out.

“Kupuna have told me stories of limu that is no longer available and how prevalent it was in their diets,” Kahaloa said. “This memory sticks with me as my generation does not have the same experiences.” 

Amidst economic or social crises, it’s easy to disregard efforts to designate state symbols as a distraction. In the past, I might have seen it that way too. But these symbols help give us meaning and move us to action.

In working together to regenerate limu, we’re reviving lost traditions, protecting our natural resources, and building toward a more responsible, sustainable future.

As a nation, we would get a lot more done if we could approach problems with shared symbols and common definitions. But we haven’t worked hard enough to build a diverse, inclusive narrative with symbols that represent the evolution of our country over time. So I’m happy to see that, here at home, our list of “Emblems and Symbols” is still open for reinvention.