A chatty coat of arms? According to the French, it is. Known as arms parlant or ‘canting’ arms, these shorthand emblems of identification play a visual pun on the family surname. It is up to the observer to fill in the blanks.
Bees carved into a limestone coat of arms, atop a façade in Għarb, reveal the occupant’s family name to be Apap − ape is Italian for a bee.
The coat of arms of Lieutenant Colonel Count Charles A. Gauci, the new chief herald
Naturally, an olive tree features prominently in the coat of arms for the Testaferrata Olivier family and a pear tree for the de Piro coat of arms.
The owner of a Valletta property he could not repossess because of the old rent laws has been awarded over €300,000 in compensation by a court.
The Court of Constitutional Appeal found that the €60,500 compensation ordered by the First Hall of the Civil Court was too low when considering the rental income which the owner was missing out on.
Presided over by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti and judges Giannino Caruana Demajo and Anthony Ellul, the court found that while it was true that compensation was not based on market value, the court had to strike a balance when awarding payment.
The court was ruling in an appeal filed by property owner Henry Deguara Caruana Gatto against the state advocate and tenant Georgina Grima.