Hawaii’s official island colors are set by state law: Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 5-16.5 designates one color for each of the eight main Hawaiian Islands, and every color traces back to a native plant, flower, or natural material tied to that island. Red for Hawaiʻi, pink for Maui, yellow for Oʻahu, purple for Kauaʻi, green for Molokaʻi, orange for Lānaʻi, white for Niʻihau, and gray for Kahoʻolawe.
The statute is short. It recognizes the colors and does nothing more: no mandated uses, no penalties, no procedures. The associations it names existed in Hawaiian cultural practice long before the legislature wrote them down.
The Eight Islands and What Each Color Means
Each color comes from something that grows on the island or washes up on its shores. In most cases the plant or material is also the island’s official flower or lei material under a companion statute, HRS 5-16.
- Hawaiʻi (the Big Island) — Red. The color of the ʻōhiʻa lehua, a native flower that grows in volcanic forests. Red also carries an association with Pele, the fire goddess said to reside in Kīlauea.
- Maui — Pink. From the lokelani, a damask rose that blooms across the island. The lokelani is Maui’s official flower under HRS 5-16.
- Oʻahu — Yellow. From the ʻilima, a small golden flower from a native shrub. ʻIlima leis were historically associated with Hawaiian royalty.
- Kauaʻi — Purple. From the mokihana, a fragrant berry that grows only on Kauaʻi. The mokihana is the island’s official lei material.
- Molokaʻi — Green. Represents the kukui, or candlenut tree. The tree’s flowers are white, but its broad green canopy and the island’s lush landscape carry the color.
- Lānaʻi — Orange. From the kaunaʻoa, a native vine that spreads across beaches in bright orange strands. It is Lānaʻi’s official lei material.
- Niʻihau — White. For the pūpū shell, the tiny white shells found on Niʻihau’s beaches. Niʻihau shell leis are among the most prized in Hawaiian culture, sometimes valued at thousands of dollars.
- Kahoʻolawe — Gray. From the hinahina, a native heliotrope with silver-gray leaves. The hinahina is Kahoʻolawe’s official lei material under HRS 5-16.
Why Some Colors Don’t Match the Flower
A few of the assignments look inconsistent at first glance. Molokaʻi’s kukui has white flowers, yet the island’s color is green. Kauaʻi’s mokihana produces greenish fruit, yet the island’s color is purple, taken from the plant’s blossoms rather than its berries. The choices reflect cultural tradition rather than strict botanical accuracy. In some cases the color follows the plant’s overall appearance or its most recognized feature rather than the specific part used for leis.
The Colors Work as a Pair With the Official Flowers
HRS 5-16.5 does not stand alone. It runs alongside HRS 5-16, which names each island’s official flower or lei material. One statute names the plant; the other assigns its color. Maui’s lokelani goes with pink, Oʻahu’s ʻilima with yellow, Kauaʻi’s mokihana with purple, and so on across all eight islands.
HRS 5-16 uses two different labels, and the distinction is deliberate. Hawaiʻi, Maui, and Oʻahu have designated flowers. Kauaʻi, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Niʻihau, and Kahoʻolawe have designated lei materials. Not every island’s representative plant is technically a flower. Niʻihau’s pūpū shells are shells, and Kauaʻi’s mokihana berries are fruit, so the statute calls them lei materials instead.
The state flower itself, the native yellow hibiscus (pua aloalo), is a separate designation and is not tied to any single island.
Where the Island Colors Actually Appear
The most visible use is Lei Day, celebrated every May 1st. Each island’s Lei Day court representative wears her island’s designated color and a lei made from its official plant. A princess representing Kauaʻi wears purple and a mokihana lei. One representing the Big Island wears red and an ʻōhiʻa lehua lei. The tradition predates the statute, and preserving it in the formal record is much of what the law was written to do.
The colors also appear at school May Day celebrations, hula competitions, canoe races, and other community events. Residents often identify with their home island’s color the way people elsewhere identify with a hometown team’s colors. Wearing your island’s color at a gathering is a quiet statement of local identity.
Where They Don’t Appear
The island colors are not on the Hawaiian state flag. The flag has eight horizontal stripes alternating white, red, and blue, with a Union Jack in the upper left corner. The eight stripes represent the eight major islands, but the stripe colors echo the British and American flags, not the color designations in HRS 5-16.5. HRS 5-19, which describes the flag’s design, makes no reference to the island colors at all.
That gap is worth knowing if you have seen the flag described as representing the islands and assumed the stripe colors were the island colors. They are not. The island color system lives in cultural practice and in Section 5-16.5, and the flag is its own separate design under its own separate statute.