Identity Malta has rebranded to become Identità, the state-run agency announced on Saturday.

The agency, which is responsible for ID cards, passports, visas, residence documents, public deeds and civil status records, unveiled its new look at an event on Friday evening.

The event was not included on a daily list of press calls issued by the Department of Information and Times of Malta was not aware of it.

Gone is the orange and blue Identity Malta logo, replaced with a red watchtower emblem in the form of a biometric fingerprint and the new, abbreviated name Identità.

The agency said the new logo “symbolises authenticity, security, and innovation”, with the watchtower and fingerprint motifs intended to represent Identitá’s commitment to protecting citizens from identity theft while also making its services available online.

In a statement announcing the rebranding, agency CEO Mark Mallia insisted that the change is not a cosmetic one, but rather “the commemoration of a 10-year voyage”.

“Our services have expanded a great deal over those 10 years, so it made sense to give the agency a new dress after that voyage,” he said. “This change reflects that voyage.”

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, who is politically responsible for the agency, said the agency had expanded its services and also become more efficient over the past 10 years.

Identity Malta was established in 2014 as a catch-all agency to combine various residency and identity services. It has since overseen the rollout of new ID cards and passports, the introduction of X gender markers on official documents, legal revisions to allow Maltese names and foreign surnames to be registered and the digitisation of many of its services.