WAIPAHU — Eight flags waved in graceful synchronization after they were raised simultaneously yesterday in a ceremony dedicating a memorial at Hawai'i's Plantation Village.

The event was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Filipino immigrants in Hawai'i and to honor the vibrant ethnic cultures that all immigrants brought with them.

The Flag Memorial Plaza features a circular formation of flags from eight major ethnic groups for the immigrants who made great effort and greater sacrifice as they left their home countries during the mid-1800s and early 1900s and sought work in Hawai'i's plantations.

As Dr. Patricia Brown, president of the Filipino-American Historical Society of Hawaii, sat watching the flags fly, she realized, "It really is ... so significant because as we were growing up on the plantation, there really was a sharing and a caring for each other and these flags really represent that."

Our neighbors could have been Filipino, Puerto Rican, Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, whatever, she said, noting that her father was a sakada, or part of the first group of Filipino laborers in Hawai'i.

"But the point is that it didn't matter what you were. If you needed help in the plantation camp, everybody was equal and that's what these flags embody — an equality and a sharing."

Representatives for each of the flags — Hawai'i, China, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Japan, Okinawa, Korea and the Philippines — were present at the ceremony, where the American flag was also raised.

The plantation village serves as the perfect home for the memorial because of its outdoor museum-like setting, which individuals and groups can tour to learn about the cultures of the workers from their original and replica homes.

The flags also represent two years of perseverance by a number of people who worked on the project, but mainly Domingo Los Banos, a docent at the plantation village who came up with the idea for the memorial to honor the presence of all the ethnic groups in Hawai'i.

In 2005, plans for the project began for the 100th anniversary of Filipino immigrants to Hawai'i, which was in 2006. But there were problems obtaining a permit from the City and County of Honolulu for the memorial, and it took two years for its unveiling as the 2006 date on the plaque in front of the memorial attests.

Those who continued working on the project despite the challenges now feel a sense of accomplishment because the memorial is finally complete.

"It (the memorial) means to me that every visitor, every local person, anybody that visits Hawaii's Plantation Village can stand here and start thinking about the contributions of each ethnic group," said Deanna Espinas, plantation village board member and secretary and treasurer of the Filipino-American Historical Society of Hawaii.

She noted she would also like to see schoolchildren come to hear, relieve and ask about the stories of their grandparents.

Reach Kelli Miura at 535-2467 or kmmiura@honoluluadvertiser.com.