The new International Flag Gallery at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa embodies UH‘s motto, ‘Above all nations is humanity’ and represents the diverse student population of UH. The installation was created to welcome students, faculty, staff and community members to the campus.
“The inspiration for the gallery came from a visit to the Memorial Union at Purdue University. They have a flag gallery that honors their students through recognizing their homelands of origin,” said Faculty Director of Student Involvement and Leadership Development, Bonnyjean Manini. “I thought about Hawaiʻi, our location in the Pacific, considered who we are as a people, a place, and a community. Such a gallery was long overdue on our campus.”
The installation of the flags aligned with the Campus Center’s 50th anniversary and represents the countries and homelands of current and former UH Mānoa students. Raiyan Rafid, the current Campus Center Board (CCB) Treasurer, also assisted with conceptualizing and installing the gallery. Funding was provided from both CCB and the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success. The gallery currently includes 216 flags.
Following section 7 of the U.S. Flag Code, the U.S. flag is positioned so that no other flag is positioned to its right. Thereafter, each flag is in alphabetical order using its English name.
“The flag display is a living representation of the academic community built and lives touched since 1907,” Manini said. If any flags representing the homelands of students or alumni have not been included, requests may be submitted to the Campus Center Board at ccb@hawaii.edu.
