A NEW coat of arms for South Africa will be adopted as the new century is ushered in, at midnight on December 31, the government announced on Monday. Cabinet has allocated R17-million for the design and adoption of a new coat of arms and motto for the country, SABC television news reported. The new coat of arms will replace the existing one — seen as a colonial relic — which was adopted in 1910 and symbolises the unification of the old Boer republics and British colonies. “South Africa is far more diverse. We want to build unity in that diversity and express it in the insignia of our nation,” Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Minister Ben Ngubane said.