The Newport district was one of the five local government districts of Gwent

Gwent (county)

Gwent is a preserved county and a former local government county in south-east Wales. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent....

 from 1974 to 1996. The district comprised the county borough of Newport

Newport

Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

 and several surrounding parishes. It inherited the borough status

Borough status in the United Kingdom

Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...

 of the former authority and was therefore styled as the Borough of Newport.

The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, from the county borough of Newport, the Caerleon Urban District

Caerleon Urban District

Caerleon Urban District is a defunct district council. It was established under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1894 and comprised the parishes of Caerleon and Christchurch in the administrative county of Monmouthshire....

 and Magor and St Mellons Rural District

Magor and St Mellons Rural District

Magor and St Mellons Rural District was created on 1 April 1935 from Magor Rural District and St Mellons Rural District in the administrative county of Monmouthshire...

 (except the parishes of Henllys

Henllys

Henllys could refer to a number of places in Wales.*Henllys, Carmarthenshire a hamlet on the west bank of the River Tywi in the parish of Cilycwm*Henllys, Ceredigion a township in the parish of Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn or Llandre...

 and St Mellons

St Mellons

St Mellons is a district and suburb of eastern Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.-History:St Mellons began as a small commercial centre in the historic county of Monmouthshire, relying heavily on rural agriculture, farming and travel...

) from the administrative county of Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire (historic)

Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....

.

The district was abolished in 1996 by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994

The Local Government Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as principal areas in the Act, and abolished the previous two-tier structure of counties and districts...

, when it was reconstituted as the unitary authority

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 county borough of Newport.

The right to use the armorial bearings

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 of the Newport Corporation

Newport City Council

Newport City Council is the governing body for the city of Newport, one of the subdivisions of Wales within the United Kingdom. It consists of 50 councillors, representing the city's 20 wards. Since the 2008 election, the council has been controlled jointly by the Conservatives and Liberal...

which were lost when the corporation was abolished on April 1, 1974 were only officially transferred to the new authority on March 14, 1996, some 18 days before it too was abolished. The present city council was awarded the right to use the arms on July 26, 1996.