Flag of Hawaii in command of the H.M.S. Discovery. During the Visit Vancouver met with Kamehameha I and presented him with a Red Ensign. At this time Ireland was not part of a united kingdom which meant the union jack did not contain Saint Patrick's Cross. This version of the Red Ensign, as well as the current version which added the cross in 1801, was the unofficial flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii until 1816. An adviser to Kamehameha noted that the Union Flag could draw Hawaii into international conflict, as his kingdom could be seen as an ally of the United Kingdom,
State flag are referred to as war flags and naval ensigns. In Australia, Brazil, the United States, and some other federal countries, the term state flag can have a different usage, as it frequently refers to an official flag of any of the individual states or territorial sub-divisions that make up the nation. To avoid confusion with the first meaning of the term, however, such a flag would be more precisely referred to as "the flag of the state of X", rather than "the state flag of X". For this usage, see also: State flag There are two separate meanings for the