Like it or not, there’s a new look to Hawaiʻi’s driver’s license.
It’s the first major change to the design in 17 years, and it includes 50 new security features to prevent identity theft.
The Honolulu Department of Customer Services says the new design aims to capture the spirit of Hawaiʻi — so HPR took to the streets of downtown Honolulu to ask local residents if they agreed.
Some, like Jaivek, who was on her way to work, were delighted with the new look.
“I like it, actually,” she told HPR. “It’s more pastel than the current one, just kind of seems prettier.”
For others, like Joshua from Makaha, their impression of the new design was colored by their nostalgia for the old one.
“That's the original one that you know everybody, I mean, everyone likes, you know,” he said.
“It's sad, you know, to see the original colors that we've been knowing for so long get taken away just like that … it's kind of mind-boggling.”
Although the new design features classic icons representing Hawaiʻi, like the rainbow and the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, some residents, like Brian and Gigi, felt it didn’t capture the essence of the islands as well as the old ID did.
“It's nice and colorful, and it's bright. It kind of, my opinion, doesn't really make me think of Hawaiʻi too much. Like when it had the islands on it, you instantly know where it's from,” Brian said.
What would they have put on the ID instead? Everything from plumeria flowers and outrigger canoes to King Kamehameha and local foods was mentioned.
Kim Hashiro, director of the Department of Customer Service, said Hawaiʻi’s driver's licenses were long overdue for an update.
“The whole focus has been to transition to a new state-of-the-art driver's license design to better protect residents against identity theft and counterfeiting,” she told HPR.
Part of those anti-counterfeiting measures include utilizing a stronger polycarbonate material to manufacture the cards and using laser-engraved black-and-white photos, rather than printed color photos.
Hashiro called the new driver’s licenses a “new take on a classic design.”
“I hope people do enjoy seeing the state fish, and then the coral reef on the back,” she said. “We wanted to add representation of the natural beauty of our state, so that is why those design elements were incorporated into the card, while retaining some of the classic elements on the front, so the rainbow, and then even the state flag, which is a hologram.”
According to Hashiro, some customers have already begun receiving their new cards.
“I hope that they will appreciate, yes, the work that went into this, and also to know that it's a very unique card.”
To learn more about the new design, visit the Honolulu Department of Customer Services website here.
This story aired on The Conversation on July 9, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
