The Art of Hawaiian Lei Making and Its Cultural Meaning

Hawaiian lei making is the art of creating a lei as an expression of aloha, respect, remembrance, celebration, and connection. A lei can be made from flowers, leaves, shells, seeds, feathers, vines, or other meaningful materials, but its value comes from more than beauty. It carries the care of the maker, the meaning of the occasion, and the relationship between the giver and the person who receives it.

To understand Hawaiian lei making, it helps to see the lei as both a handmade object and a living gesture. A lei can welcome someone home, honor a graduate, mark a wedding, comfort a family, or remember those who have passed. It is worn on the body, but its meaning lives in the relationship around it.

A lei can be understood through four simple lenses:

• The maker: the person whose time, skill, and care shape the lei.

• The material: the flowers, leaves, shells, seeds, feathers, or vines chosen for the occasion.

• The moment: the greeting, graduation, wedding, ceremony, or remembrance where the lei is given.

• The relationship: the feeling between the giver, the receiver, and the place where the lei belongs.

For a deeper look at the symbolism behind this practice, see The meaning of the lei hawaiian

Hawaiian lei making is the art of making a garland or adornment from carefully chosen materials. The lei may be worn around the neck, on the head as a lei poʻo, around the wrist, or on a hat, depending on its form and purpose.

The process can be simple or highly skilled:

• A beginner may string flowers with a needle and thread.

• A skilled lei maker may braid, wrap, twist, or stitch flowers and foliage.

• A ceremonial lei may be shaped by occasion, material, and family or community meaning.

• A keepsake lei may use longer-lasting materials such as shells, seeds, or nuts.

A lei is more than a flower garland because it is usually made, given, and worn within a relationship. It can say “welcome,” “thank you,” “I honor you,” “I remember you,” or “I celebrate this moment with you.”

This is why a lei should not be reduced to a decorative necklace. A lei can be beautiful, but beauty is only one part of its role. The time spent making it, the materials chosen, and the reason it is given all shape what the lei means.

A Hawaiian lei can symbolize aloha, respect, love, honor, celebration, remembrance, and connection to place. Its meaning depends on context: who made it, who receives it, what it is made from, and why it is being given.

In many settings, a lei may express:

• Aloha: warmth, care, and presence.

• Respect: recognition of a person, role, achievement, or moment.

• Welcome: an invitation into a place, family, gathering, or experience.

• Remembrance: gratitude for someone who has passed or for a shared history.

• Connection to place: the relationship between people, materials, and the land or island associated with the lei.

These meanings are not fixed by a single universal formula. A graduation lei, a wedding lei, a welcome lei, and a memorial lei may all use flowers, leaves, or other materials, but they do not carry the same emotional purpose.

Lei making expresses aloha through attention. A lei maker chooses materials, prepares them carefully, follows a method, and creates something meant to be received with care.

The gesture can be joyful, solemn, intimate, or public:

• A lei placed around a graduate’s shoulders celebrates achievement.

• A lei given at a greeting marks arrival.

• A lei exchanged at a wedding can express blessing and union.

• A lei used in remembrance can become a quiet expression of gratitude and grief.

A lei is best understood as a relationship because its meaning connects the maker, the materials, the place, the giver, the receiver, and the occasion. The lei is the visible form of that connection.

This perspective helps prevent a common misunderstanding: treating lei only as souvenirs. Lei can be sold, bought, worn, and photographed, but their deeper meaning comes from the care and context surrounding them.

Hawaiian lei can be made from many kinds of materials, including pua, or flowers; lau, or leaves; palapalai and other ferns; shells; seeds; feathers; vines; and lāʻī, or ti leaves. Familiar flower lei may use plumeria, orchid, pikake, tuberose, crown flower, or ʻilima, but flowers are only one part of the tradition.

Some lei are valued for fragrance. Others are valued for durability, color, texture, family meaning, ceremonial use, or connection to a specific island or place.

Common lei materials can carry different practical and emotional roles:

• Flowers often bring color, fragrance, and softness.

• Leaves and vines can add structure, strength, and durability.

• Shells and seeds may create long-lasting lei for keepsakes or special occasions.

• Feathers are associated with highly skilled and historically significant forms of adornment.

• Mixed materials allow the maker to balance scent, texture, color, and meaning in one piece.

Flowers are only one part of lei making because lei traditions include a much wider material world. Leaves, ferns, seeds, shells, feathers, and vines can all carry beauty and meaning.

A plumeria lei may be familiar to visitors, but a ti leaf lei, maile lei, kukui nut lei, shell lei, or feather lei may tell a different story through material and use. The material affects not only how the lei looks, but also how it feels, lasts, and belongs to a particular moment.

Kui, haku, wili, hili, and humu are lei-making methods. Each method changes how the lei is built, how it sits on the body, and what materials it can hold.

Wili, as a winding method, is valued for durability and versatility, with materials chosen by color, shape, texture, and meaning.

Haku is often misunderstood because many people use “haku lei” to mean any lei worn on the head. More precisely, a lei worn on the head is a lei poʻo, while haku refers to a method of making lei.

A lei poʻo may be made using haku, but the two terms do not mean the same thing. Using the terms carefully helps preserve the difference between where a lei is worn and how it is made.

A lei gains meaning through four connected choices: material, method, moment, and meaning.

• Material: What the lei is made from, such as flowers, leaves, shells, seeds, or feathers.

• Method: How it is made, such as kui, haku, wili, hili, or humu.

• Moment: Why it is made, such as a greeting, graduation, wedding, ceremony, or memorial.

• Meaning: What it expresses, such as aloha, honor, gratitude, remembrance, or connection.

A lei made quickly for a casual welcome and a lei made carefully for a ceremony may both be beautiful, but they do not carry the same weight.

Lei makers choose materials by balancing beauty, scent, durability, availability, texture, and the lei's purpose. A fragrant lei may suit a greeting. A sturdy lei may be better for a long ceremony. A delicate flower may carry elegance, while a leaf or vine may add strength, structure, or place-based meaning.

One example is ʻilima, the flower associated with Oʻahu. The Native Hawaiian Garden notes that a single-strand ʻilima lei can require 500 to 1,000 flowers, showing how much patience and gathering can go into a lei that looks soft and simple.

People give lei to welcome, congratulate, thank, honor, comfort, or remember someone. A lei may appear at an airport greeting, a family gathering, a school graduation, a wedding, a hula performance, a civic ceremony, or a memorial.

The meaning comes from the gesture. A lei is not simply placed on someone; it is offered.

Lei are used to mark important transitions. A greeting lei welcomes someone into a place or moment. A graduation lei honors accomplishment. A wedding lei can express blessings and union. A memorial lei can hold gratitude and remembrance.

Lei commonly appear in moments such as:

• Greetings and departures: to mark arrival, welcome, farewell, or return.

• Graduations: to honor achievement and family support.

• Weddings: to express love, blessings, and union.

• Ceremonies and performances: to adorn, honor, or mark participation.

• Memorials: to express gratitude, grief, remembrance, and respect.

Honolulu’s “Sew-A-Lei for Memorial Day” tradition shows how lei can become a public act of remembrance. The City and County of Honolulu describes the practice as a long-standing effort to place fresh lei at Pūowaina, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, as a gesture of mahalo to veterans.

Proper lei etiquette begins with receiving the lei with gratitude. If someone offers a lei, pause, accept it respectfully, and understand that it represents more than an accessory. A simple way to honor the gesture:

1. Receive the lei with attention.

2. Wear it respectfully in the context where it was given.

3. Avoid tossing it aside immediately after receiving it.

4. Handle delicate natural materials with care.

5. After wearing a natural lei, return it to the earth or compost it when appropriate.

A respectful way to receive and wear a lei also includes:

• Pause before taking it off. Removing a lei immediately can feel dismissive in some settings.

• Let the occasion guide you. A lei at a casual greeting is different from a lei given during a ceremony or memorial.

• Ask when unsure. If the setting feels formal, follow the host, teacher, elder, or practitioner.

• Care for natural materials. Fresh lei are living materials and should be handled gently.

Visitors should understand the lei as a living practice, not only as a vacation symbol. Wearing a lei can be respectful when it is received with gratitude and treated with care.

A more thoughtful approach is to learn what kind of lei it is, who made it, what materials were used, and what the occasion means. Supporting local lei makers, attending a reputable lei-making class, and using correct terms are simple ways to appreciate the practice with more care.

Lei Day, observed on May 1 in Hawaii, celebrates the art and meaning of lei. According to the City and County of Honolulu’s Lei Day history, the first Lei Day celebration was held in 1928 at the Bank of Hawaiʻi in downtown Honolulu, and Nina Bowman was crowned the first Lei Queen that same year. In 1929, May 1 was proclaimed “May Day is Lei Day in Hawaiʻi.”

Lei Day continues through lei contests, music, hula, court traditions, and public gatherings. It gives lei makers a place to showcase their skill, carry knowledge forward, and celebrate the relationship among lei, community, and place.

Island flowers and colors add place-based meaning to the lei. Lei Day traditions recognize the major Hawaiian Islands through specific colors and flowers, connecting lei making to geography, memory, and identity.

This place-based meaning is one reason the lei should not be treated as an interchangeable decoration. A lei can carry the feeling of an island, the history of a family, the intention of a ceremony, or the hand of a specific maker.

Sustainability affects lei making because many lei materials come from living ecosystems. The University of Hawaiʻi and Hawaiʻi’s Department of Land and Natural Resources have connected lei plant cultivation with the preservation of Hawaiʻi’s natural and cultural heritage in resources on growing plants for Hawaiian lei.

Growing lei plants can reduce pressure on wild plant communities and help families, schools, and communities keep lei-making knowledge active. Respect for lei includes respect for the plants and places that make lei possible.

Responsible sourcing matters because the materials used in lei are part of the meaning of the lei. A lei meant to express respect should not depend on careless gathering or harm to sensitive places.

Responsible sourcing can include:

• Growing lei plants in home gardens, farms, schools, or community spaces.

• Buying from knowledgeable local makers when possible.

• Learning proper gathering practices before collecting plants.

• Avoiding protected, restricted, or sensitive natural areas.

• Choosing materials that suit the occasion without suggesting that every lei must use rare plants.

Modern lei access is shaped by local agriculture, visitor demand, event culture, and imported flowers. Fresh lei are widely associated with Hawaii, but the materials used in commercial lei may come from different places depending on cost, season, and supply.

Recent reporting by AP News has described debates around imported lei flowers, local growers, and tourism demand. The issue is not simple: imported flowers can make lei more available and affordable, while local growers and lei makers carry knowledge, labor, and connection to the place that deserve support.

Traditional lei, handmade lei, and commercial lei can overlap, but they are not identical.

Hawaiian lei making is more than the craft of arranging flowers or foliage. It is a practice shaped by care, language, place, memory, and relationship. Every lei carries meaning through the materials chosen, the method used, the occasion it serves, and the intention behind giving it.

To appreciate a lei more fully, look beyond its beauty. Notice how it was made, why it was offered, and what kind of connection it represents. Learning these details helps keep the lei from becoming a simple souvenir and brings readers closer to the living tradition behind Hawaiian lei making.

If you want to understand the lei more deeply, begin with its meaning: the aloha, respect, remembrance, and sense of place carried in each handmade piece.