The image of Richard Pomaikaiokalani Kinney’s large frame carrying a large, upside-down Hawaiian flag became an enduring symbol for the Native Hawaiian sovereignty movement as it grew during the past few decades.

Kinney and his flag were at nearly every major march, demonstration or vigil dealing with Native Hawaiian issues. Often he wore a red T-shirt and a baseball cap, which also had an upside down flag on it.

"He was 6 foot 4, and when he stood in a crowd with his Hawaiian flag upside down, he was hard to miss," said Kina Fernandez, Kinney’s aunt.

Kinney, 72, died Wednesday at Hawaii Medical Center of complications from pneumonia following a major stroke earlier this month, Fernandez said. Kinney found out in July he had stage 4 bladder cancer and had been undergoing treatment, she said.

Kinney was unwavering in his belief that the United States is illegally occupying Hawaii and that the nation should be restored, a view of Hawaiian sovereignty not embraced by a majority of Hawaii residents, including many in his own family.

But he won admiration for his refusal to waver from that position.

Among his admirers was Colette Machado, chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

"We’ve not always seen eye-to-eye, but I respected his position on what he felt was best for Native Hawaiians and his brand of sovereignty," Machado said. "He has always been clean about his form of sovereignty. He never got it mixed up with some of the other stuff."

The upside-down flags and the color red that marked Kinney’s appearance are symbols of distress.

Activist Pilipo Souza said he renounced his U.S. citizenship after Kinney did so in 1993, the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.

Kinney "portrayed that dedication and love of country with every breath that he took and exhaled," Souza said, noting that his friend showed up all major Hawaiian rights gatherings, demonstrations, rallies or marches. "He was very dedicated, more so than anybody else that I know. With every major group, he has always been there."

Fernandez said Kinney told her that he felt it important that he support all Hawaiian rights groups, even though he would never join of any of them.

Kinney was born in Honolulu but spent his teen years living with his grandmother, Madeline Fernandez Brusco, in San Francisco. Brusco taught him to never forget he was Hawaiian first, Fernandez said.

He served in the Navy and in the 1960s returned to Hawaii, where he spent years as a bus driver for Tradewind Tours.

He began studying Hawaiian history because he was peppered with questions about it from tourists, Fernandez said. It was during his research he learned that a descendant, William Kinney, prosecuted Liliuokalani for treason.

That inspired him to delve deeper into the sovereignty movement, Souza said. "He felt he needed to make amends."

Fernandez said some family members "when he first got into this, thought he was nuts," adding, "Then as time went on, they started to appreciate what he was doing."

Kinney is survived by a brother, Art Brusco of Kailua-Kona; sister Roberta Ford of Lynnwood, Wash.; aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.