Coat of arms between 1975 and 1988, the new name of the Republic of Malta and the date display on the outside.

The coat of arms was adopted on the 11 July 1975, seven months after Malta became a republic. It showed a coastal scene with the rising sun, a traditional Maltese boat (Luzzu), a shovel and a pitchfork, and an Opuntia. The emblem was controversial since it was not heraldic, and it was replaced by the current coat of arms soon after the Nationalists won the 1987 election. It was proposed that the 1964 coat of arms be readopted, but eventually a simplified version of it was chosen.

Value and weasel.

A weasel is a mammal of the genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae. The genus Mustela includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and minks. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bodies and short legs. Weasels vary in length from 173 to 217 mm (6.8 to 8.5 in), females being smaller than the males, and usually have red or brown upper coats and white bellies; some populations of some species moult to a wholly white coat in winter. They have long, slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from 34 to 52 mm (1.3 to 2.0 in) long. Weasels feed on small mammals and have from time to time been considered vermin because some species took poultry from farms or rabbits from commercial warrens. They do on the other hand eat large numbers of rodents.