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The Government has extended the use of the existing coat of arms until January 2, 2031, despite the approval of a new national emblem earlier this year which replaced the ships of Christopher Columbus with the steelpan.

The extension is contained in Legal Notice No 468, issued by the Ministry of Homeland Security and dated December 18, 2025.

The new coat of arms was unanimously approved in the House of Representatives on January 13, showing the image of a gold steelpan and pansticks where Columbus' ships were. the change was part of the former PNM government's effort to remove "painful colonial vestiges of our past."