[1] Nevertheless, the Turks and Caicos Islands did not form a separate colony for the vast majority of this time.

The coat of arms, which was granted on 28 September 1965, takes the shape of a yellow shield which contains a queen conch shell, lobster, and a Melocactus.

The Melocactus, which is visually similar to the traditional Turkish fez, give the islands the first half of their name.

[3][4] The current flag was modified in 1999 when a white outline was added to the shield and the badge height was increased to approximately half of the hoist width.

The former coat of arms (which can be seen on the former flag below) featured a ship offshore from a beach with the name of the islands in a circle.

In 1870, an alternative to this had been proposed, which retained the Union flag but which was defaced with a white crescent and three stars against a blue background.