PM: Steelpan to be on national coat of arms

THE Prime Minister says the national coat of arms will be changed by Republic Day to include pan, the national instrument.

Dr Rowley made the announcement at a special PNM party convention held at the National Academy of the Performing Arts (NAPA) on August 18 to consider the report of the party’s constitution review committee.

“You see them three Columbus boats on the emblem (sic)? They will go!”

Dr Rowley said the government intends to make the change soon after Parliament reopens.

“That adjustment should be made before September 24. We then will replace Columbus’s three ships – the Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina – with the steelpan.

“That will take place over a six-month period, allowing us to consume the stationery and other things we have in place and replace it.”

Rowley said the decision will substantially affect how citizens view themselves.

“That should signal that we are on our way to removing the colonial vestiges that we have in our country.”

The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, on its website, says the three ships, coloured in gold on the coat of arms represent the Trinity, the discovery of the islands and the three ships of Columbus.

The national coat of arms is found on money, government buildings, government vehicles, and in Trinidad and Tobago embassies and high commissions around the world.

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