Editing Shaka sign (section)

== Meaning and use ==
[[File:Aloha vote.jpg|thumb|A shaka sign [[foam finger]] used in [[Brian Schatz]]'s 2014 Hawaii senatorial campaign|250x250px]]

Residents of [[Hawaii]] use the shaka to convey the "[[Aloha]] Spirit", a concept of friendship, understanding, compassion, and solidarity among the various ethnic cultures that reside in [[Hawaii]], lacking a direct semantic to literal translation. Drivers will often use it on the road to communicate distant greetings along with gratitude.{{Cn|date=August 2023}} A bill making it the state's official gesture passed the legislature in 2024.<ref name="Guard 2024">{{Cite news |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878 |language=en-GB |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |department=Hawaii |access-date=2024-05-09 |date=2024-05-09 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/09/shaka-hawaii-official-hand-gesture |title=Talk to the hand: Hawaii makes shaka state's official gesture |first=Maya |last=Yang}}</ref>

[[File:Shaka Santa with Tutu Mele and penguins (2854687362).jpg|thumb|left|Shaka [[Santa Claus|Santa]] and Tutu Mele by [[Honolulu Hale]]|250x250px]]

In the Honolulu public transport system ([[TheBus (Honolulu)|TheBus]] and [[Skyline (Honolulu)|Skyline]]), [[HOLO card]] readers display the shaka sign (along with a [[ukulele]] tone) when a card is tapped.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kealakai.byuh.edu/breaking-down-how-to-use-thebus-new-holo-card-as-it-transitions-away-from-paper-passes |title=Breaking down how to use TheBus’ new HOLO card as it transitions away from paper passes |website=Ke Alaka'i |author=Stephenson, Anna |date=14 June 2021 |accessdate=21 July 2024 }}</ref>

In Hawaii, the shaka sign is known as "hang loose" and is popular in surfer culture.{{r|Guard 2024}}

Australian men's mental health charity The Shaka Project uses the shaka sign in its merchandise and logo.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Shaka Project |url=https://theshakaproject.com/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=the shaka project. |language=en}}</ref>

There are several [[emoticon]] representations of the shaka sign, including \,,,/, \m/, and \,,,_. The earliest known use of the first two, with three commas or a lower case "m" corresponding to a hand's three middle fingers, is from 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.pleiade.org/col_geal/aux_armes-mottoes.html#shaka-sign |title=Aux armes · mottoes: clarere audere gaudere & ζητεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν | last=Geal | first=Alan |publisher=Pleiade.org |date=2006-10-01 |access-date= 2016-07-02| quote= an innocently hedonistic call of American West Coast youth in the 1960s, Surf's up! : \,,,/ or \m/ Hang loose!}}</ref> The last, similar to the first except that it represents the thumb extended horizontally (as if perpendicular to the wrist) is reported, together with the first form, from [[Brigham Young University]] in 2016.<ref name=BYU />