LONDON, England, August 19, 2024 — Trinidad and Tobago is set to alter its coat of arms, replacing Christopher Columbus’s ships with steel drums in a move to distance itself from its colonial past, The Telegraph reported today in an article written by Craig Simon.
As part of a drive to “remove colonial vestiges”, three ships on its coat of arms representing the vessels Columbus used to traverse the Atlantic will be removed to make way for a steel drum, the national instrument.
Trinidad and Tobago, a former British colony, became independent in 1962.
Its government’s shift comes amid growing calls from Caribbean nations for former colonial powers to atone for their involvement in slavery and imperialism.
Dr Keith Rowley, its prime minister, set out his plans at a party convention for the ruling People’s National Movement, saying the redesigned coat of arms would be the first step in a process of decolonisation.
He said: “You see the three Columbus boats in the emblem, they will go. And we have enough votes in the parliament to do it.
“I can announce now that as soon as the legislative adjustment is made, that amendment should be made before the 24th of September. We are going to replace Columbus’s three ships – the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria – with the steelpan.”
Columbus arrived in Trinidad in 1498 and gave the island the name “Trinity”.
The explorer has been reassessed recently by proponents of decolonisation as a slave-owning oppressor who crushed indigenous peoples.
Dr Rowley is also seeking to ditch the King’s privy council as its highest court of appeal, a legal arrangement that remains in place for several Commonwealth countries including Trinidad.
The prime minister said he wanted to ensure that his people were no longer “squatters on the steps of the privy council”.
The judicial committee of the privy council acts as the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories and Commonwealth countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Countries including St Lucia have voted to get rid of this, with the island nation instead joining the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2023.
The judicial committee told The Telegraph that nothing was stopping more nations from doing so as they could enact the legal change themselves.
Any change would come amid a broader reckoning with colonial history, which has seen numerous nations campaign for the return of historical artefacts, including Ghana and Nigeria, or reparation for slavery, as with many Caribbean nations.
Trinidad and Tobago is one of 14 member states within the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which has sought reparations from Britain and other former colonial powers.
It has recently pivoted to a plan to demand payments from businesses and institutions connected to slavery, as revealed by The Telegraph, and Grenada has officially requested reparations from the Bank of England.
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