Are there protocols that determine the use of our national symbols? Is "pan" T&T's national instrument in the same way that The National Coat of Arms, The National Flag and The National Anthem are designated national symbols?
The national Coat of Arms has been used on the label of an Italian wine. This anomaly was headlined in the media and has led to many yet-to-be-answered questions particularly because of its Presidential source.
Interestingly enough, no objections were raised when pan, our national instrument, was used on labels of a locally manufactured alcohol drink to promote its white rum brand.
Additionally, no objection has ever been raised about the Absolut Pan commercial monument, located on the green verge opposite MovieTown, that desecrates The national instrument by having vodka-shaped bottles embedded on the "pan" to separate the musical notes!
In 1992, the late PM Patrick Manning, on the occasion of his Independence speech, declared pan The National Instrument. Was this declaration sufficient to make pan The National Instrument of T&T? In 1999 a Parliamentary Bill, piloted by MP Daphne Phillip, was passed to establish a National Steel Orchestra, an orchestra that uses "pan" as its instrument of choice.
Shouldn't pan's national status as the National Instrument be established by an Act of Parliament and will our national symbols continue to be mistakenly associated with alcohol beverages?
John Henry,
Petit Valley