The trophies say it all. Forres is Scotland’s floral capital. The unstinting work of local volunteers is recognised year after year, and the town’s floral prowess is currently enjoying a nice bit of PR in newspapers around the UK following a cheeky jab at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Flowers are a recurring theme in the town, and it makes Forres stand out.
And so the people behind Forres Local and Visit Forres would like to present to you, our idea for a town slogan. Something we’ve been ruminating over for a while…
Forres – The Flower of Scotland









As many of you will know, the song ‘Flower of Scotland’ was written by Roy Williamson of The Corries. Roy went to Gordounstoun as a youngster and came to live in Forres in the latter part of his life.
He wrote the song while in Edinburgh, and it has become the unofficial national anthem of Scotland, and an iconic ballad of patriotism.
For us, as an organisation that is constantly involved in promoting the town, we believe this is apt and original, and sums up the town to visitors and locals alike.
We have toyed with the idea for some time, and when we used the slogan on Visit Forres to describe the town’s floral beauty, it was picked up by a raft of news outlets, including national titles such as The Times, Yahoo News and The National, and regional newspapers such as the Westmorland Gazette, the Border Telegraph, and understandably, our local newspaper The Forres Gazette.
Collaboration
In fact the original story came from a collaboration between our tourism and leisure site Visit Forres and the national tourism agency Visit Scotland. We were asked to provide some information and pictures for an article highlighting towns in the UK where you could get an awesome floral display without paying £120-a-ticket for the Chelsea Flower Show.
The article was originally featured in The Times, before being syndicated everywhere else. (See Forres Local, 22 May – Forres showcased as top floral destination…) and Forres was the only town in Scotland to get a mention.
Visit Forres and Forres Local are part of a social enterprise, Moray Local CIC that last year won the Scotland’s Towns Partnership Digital Community Award for its work in promoting Forres through its online channels.
We recognise the work of volunteers at Forres in Bloom, and think this is a fitting acknowledgement of their hard work and tenacity in not only making the town beautiful but also creating publicity for the town.
What do you think? We reckon this slogan epitomises what makes Forres the popular town it is for visitors and business owners who come here, and we’re excited to continue using it to drive interest.
Oh yes, and we did actually write to The Corries, and remaining band member Ronnie Browne said he was happy for us to use the song title as our slogan.
Feel-good factor
Moray Local CIC director Marc Hindley said: “A slogan won’t work any magic overnight, but it provides a long-term feel-good factor. It gives us, as a promotional organisation, and others, a publicity tool that we can all use to instantly convey a positive attribute. For locals, it’s a year-round celebration of the work being done by Forres in Bloom.
“Keith, Huntly and Lossiemouth all have a slogan of sorts, so why not Forres.
“And it’s not something that was just conjured up as a PR stunt, It’s a rare opportunity to adopt something that has poignant and relevant links, and we must seize the opportunity to make the most of it.”
The slogan will be free for all to use in their own publicity, and we’ll provide some assets for people to use and guidance if they need it.