Standing before the Ali'iolani Hale, a bronze statue of Kamehameha the Great faces ʻIolani Palace. Often ceremonially draped with layers of flower lei, the statue was cast in 1880 in Florence, Italy, by American sculptor Thomas Gould. The current statue is a recast, as the first statue was lost at sea near the Falkland Islands. It was dedicated here in 1883, just a decade before the Hawaiian monarchy would be overthrown.
The original statue, which was later recovered from the ocean floor, now stands in Kohala on Hawaiʻi, the Big Island, where Kamehameha I was born.