Our Coat of Arms incorporates important historical and indigenous features of Trinidad and Tobago, in a design approved by the the College of Arms. The Coat of Arms depicts features of our history, our environment and our culture. What is commonly called the Coat of Arms is more appropriately called an Achievement of Arms which comprises:

The Livery coat or colour on a Shield. Charges or Devices on the Shield. The Helm of Special Design. The Mantle which covers the Helm. The Wreath to hold the Mantle in place. The Crest. The Supporters. The Motto.

The Livery coat or colour on a Shield and Charges or Devices on the Shield - The same colours as the National Flag are used on the Shield, where the same symbolism is attached to them. The three gold ships represent the Trinity, the discovery of the islands, the three ships of Columbus, the sea that brought our peoples together, the commerce and the wealth. The Humming Bird has been included for sentimental reasons (Trinidad is known as the The Land of the Humming Bird).

The Helm of Special Design and the Mantle - The Helm is the Queen's - It is a gold helmet which faces the front and has five gold bars across the visor. The interior is lined red. The Mantle covers the Helm.

The Wreath to hold the Mantle in place - The Wreath which crowns the helmet and which holds the Mantle in place, carries by tradition all the colours of the achievement.

The Crest - For the Crest, we have a ship's gold wheel in front of a fruited coconut palm. The fruited coconut palm had always been the central figure of the Great Seals of British Colonial Tobago and was an adornment of the Governor's Standard in the days when Trinidad was a seperate administrative unit.

The Supporters - The Supporters are the birds of the two islands. On the left is the bird of Trinidad - the Scarlet Ibis and the bird on the right is the bird of Tobago - the Cocrico. They represent the two islands.

The Motto - Our Motto is "Together we Aspire, Together we Achieve." The three peaks above the the Motto represent the same three hills that constituted the principal motif of Trinidad's early British Colonial Seals and Flag Badges. These peaks commemorate both Columbus' decision to name the larger island Trinidad after the Blessed Trinity, and the first sighting of the island by the Spaniards who saw three peaks of our Southern Mountain Range, called "The Three Sisters." The waters represent the sea by which we are bound.