COAT OF ARMS of TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

[aukepalmhof]

Trinidad and Tobago, a small country off the coast of Venezuela, has decided to change its national coat of arms. The three ships that explorer Christopher Columbus sailed to the 'New World' in the late fifteenth century will be removed from the coat of arms.

The coat of arms of Trinidad and Tobago dates from 1962 when the country became independent. At the bottom of the black and red coat of arms are Columbus's three ships: the  PINTA, the NINA, and the SANTA MARIA. With these ships Columbus arrived in 1498 at the largest island of Trinidad, which the explorer also named. Trinidad refers to the Holy Trinity. Columbus initially called the smaller island Bella Forma , but this was later changed to Tobago, probably as a reference to the tobacco that was grown on the island.

In the years after the 'discovery' by Columbus, the two islands were always under European rule. First, the Spanish held sway for a long time, in 1655 the Dutch briefly took control of Trinidad and Tobago and from the eighteenth century the British were in charge. This lasted until independence in 1962 when the country also got the old coat of arms.

https://historiek.net/columbus-schepen- ... go/166817/ (Google Translated)
Wikipedia has more on the Coat of Arms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_a ... and_Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago 1969 15c sg346. Scott?