One popular story attributes the origin of the gesture to a Hawaiian man named Hamana Kalili of Laie, who lost the three middle fingers of his right hand in a sugar mill accident in the early 20th century. Kalili was later employed as a security guard on the Oahu Sugar Company’s trains, and he would use his unique hand gesture to signal that everything was all clear. Locals began mimicking the gesture, and it gradually became a symbol of greeting and goodwill. Watch some of his ancestors talk about Kalili and his gesture HERE.

Fast forward to the 1960s. Lippy Espinda, a used car salesman and Oahu-based entertainer, who frequently appeared as an extra in the TV series Hawaii Five-O, used the sign during the 1960s, signing off his television commercials with the gesture coupled with the term "shaka, brah!”. Espinda is credited with increasing its popularity. Honolulu’s longest-serving mayor Frank Fasi further ingrained the gesture into local culture, using it to symbolise his political campaigns from 1976.

But most of all, from the 1960s onward, the shaka sign was popularised by Hawaiian surfers and spread to other parts of the world, especially California, Brazil and Australia … due to the pervasive influence of surf culture. The gesture quickly became synonymous with the easygoing, laid-back lifestyle associated with surfing.

And what does the sign actually mean?

The shaka sign generally conveys a sense of “aloha” spirit, which encompasses good feelings, friendship, compassion and understanding. It can mean various things depending on the context, including "hello”, "goodbye”, “thank you”, "cool”, or "take it easy”. Its universal message is one of positivity, camaraderie and good vibes.

Hanna Brown, writing for seaparadise.com in 2021 spoke with Saa Tamba, owner of Tamba Surf Company on Kaua‘i. Tamba been "throwing" shakas his whole life. “It’s just, from my perspective, a way of saying hi, a way of saying goodbye, and spreading some good spirit, you know, the eternal spirit of aloha,” he says. Tamba is quick to clarify that the shaka isn’t a wave. “You’re kind of like throwing it out there, you know, to your friend or someone away in the distance. So they’re kind of like catching the shaka,” he says. Tamba throws different shakas for different reasons. There’s the casual, one-handed shaka and there’s the “strong”, double-handed shaka for flagging someone down at a crowded concert, or saying hello to a friend you haven’t seen in a while.

And finally, note that there is no specific shaka sign emoji. The one that you see online is actually the Unicode 9.0 emoji 🤙 "Call me hand”, an emoji that represents someone on an old school telephone, although this might not make much sense to those who have only ever used a flat, rectangular mobile.
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References

wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_sign
starbulletin.com/2002/03/31/news/kokualine
seaparadise.com/the-dark-history-of-hawaiis-iconic-hand-gesture
theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/09/shaka-hawaii-official-hand-gesture

Images

1. Shaka sign. Photo credit: Jan-Otto for Getty Images
2. Hamana Kalili was a big man: 6 feet 7 inches and 160kg (350 lbs)
3. Video: The Origins of the Hawaiian Shaka Hand Sign, Ka Waihona Studios, 2021
4. Lippy Espinda
5. Frank Fasi on the campaign trail, 1977
6. Surfer throws a shaka sign. Photo credit: iStock Photo
7. President Obama was born in Hawaii
8. Shaka statue at The Hangout Gulf Shores, Alabama. Photo credit: Shara Roberson on X
9. Jack Schlossberg doing the Shaka sign while taking a selfie with President Joe Biden at the White House in September 2024