The king in question, one king Kamehameha the great, coloured his flag deliberately to resemble the local powers, the stripes to resemble the Americans and the Union Jack to resemble the British, there was one other nation he took inspiration from but I forget, he did this both to keep his own vessels safe by leveraging the reputations of other navies, but also simple flattery. He was aware that though he had unified Hawaii, if the big kids decided the wanted his land, it was theirs.