COSCA Debuts QR Banner to Connect with Clan and Family Societies
- Bart Forbes
- Apr 30
- 2 min read
At the March 2025 Sherman Celtic Festival and Games in Texas, the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA) debuted its new banner of Quick Response (QR) codes that link to 140 surnames association with clan and family societies. The banner became a big hit with festival goers who wanted to connect with their Scottish heritage. Members of the Clan Forbes Society also provided assistance with a banner of the “Scotland of Old” clan map and the book Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History by George F Black.
The designer of the banner was Bart Forbes, Board Member and Director of Communications for COSCA. He explained that “as a small society, we understand that many organizations cannot have conveners at a lot of festivals.” He added that “this is one way we can build membership for other clans who can’t be here at these games – and perhaps they’ll do the same for us at other games.”
Mary Erwin, Chairman of the Clan Irwin Association and COSCA Regional Commissioner for the Gulf States, also displayed the banner at 2025 Scottish Tartan Festival in Minden, Louisiana. The banner was also unfurled at the 2025 Colorado Day Festival hosted by Robert Heston, author of the book Scottish Clans and Their Associated Families.
Once you download the graphic, you can print this on a 4’ x 2’ vinyl banner for between $20 to $40 depending on vinyl thickness and grommets (plus shipping and tax.) You can also print a larger size without too much degradation of the resolution.
You can click on this link to download the 30 MB jpg graphic. This is 300 dpi and the dimensions are 15,750 x 8,080 pixels (52.5” x 26.933.”)
Also available is the "Scotland of Old" Map with surnames listed by grid. This can be printed on a 5' by 4' vinyl banner for between $40 and $55, depending on vinyl thickness and grommets (plus shipping and taxes.) The original graphic should be 300 pixels per inch and 15,750 pixels by 8,080 pixels. You can click on this link to download the 39 MB jpg graphic.
This is great! Thank you for this resource. CelticFest Mississippi will be using both of these in October. Host location of 2025 Scottish Masters World Championships.