Parliament has spent around £50,000 for a new design of its portcullis logo only for the new version to look almost identical.

According to the Sunday Times, officials hired the consultancy SomeOne to breathe new life into the crown and portcullis emblem in a bid to make it less “confusing and incoherent”.

However, a picture of the new logo shows not much has changed, with the only obvious alteration at first glance being the removal of 20 dots.

‘Confusing and inconsistent’

The name is also said to have been changed from ‘Houses of Parliament’ to ‘UK Parliament’.

A spokesman told the paper that previous versions of the logo – which is 500 years old – had been brought together into one design.

They added the two houses of parliament shared a range of services that “have previously used a confusing and inconsistent range of identities”.

Henry VII and Henry VIII, the first and second kings of the Tudor dynasty, employed the portcullis as a badge and are thought to have used it in the Palace, as elsewhere.

The crowned portcullis logo has been used exclusively on House of Commons stationery since 1967, replacing an oval device which had been in use since the turn of the 20th century.

A Parliamentary spokesman told i: “The visual identity of the UK Parliament has been reviewed and updated by the administrations of both houses because the current version does not work successfully on digital channels.

“The new version works with mobile responsive websites, and is more accessible and readable.”

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