In 1856, while populated by Tokelauans, Swains Island was settled by the American Eli Hutchinson Jennings and his Samoan wife Malia.

In 1977, the United States and New Zealand established exclusive economic zones, which partially overlapped around their territories of American Samoa, Cook Islands and Tokelau.

In this context, the United States sought to sign treaties to resolve the maritime boundaries and formally abandon its claims to the islands, establishing friendly relations with the new nations or autonomous territories.

It specifies a maritime boundary of seven geodetic line segments defined by eight individual coordinate points, located between Swains Island and the three atolls of Tokelau.

[7][8] The popular song sparked a heated debate about the subject, including allegations that the leaders had been tricked into signing the treaty.

[10] The government clarified that this mention was symbolic and confirmed that the island was legally part of American Samoa, and that any change to this situation could only be done by agreement with the United States, which was unlikely.

In 2007 the parliament of Tokelau proposed a flag containing four stars, roughly positioned according to the locations of the four atolls, including Olohega.