THE pattern has been chosen with the colours picked for the Wee County's very first official tartan.

Ronan Anderson, 15, has created the winning design after the competition to create Clackmannanshire's first tartan drew to a conclusion last Friday, March 3.

The competition, organised by Provost Donald Balsillie and facilitated through The Futures Institute at Dollar Academy (FIDA), was open to learners from across S1-S6 in the Wee County.

Young people from Alva, Lornshill and Dollar academies took on the challenge with 16 entries considered by a judging panel that included the provost, textile designer and weaver Claire Hunter and bespoke kilt-maker Lesley Thornton.

Ronan's design – which includes five colours inspired by the Wee County's geology, wildlife, social history and industrial heritage – was picked as the winner unanimously.

Provost Balsillie said: "It was a privilege to promote and judge the competition for Clackmannanshire's first official tartan as this competition was a real opportunity, not only to honour our area's strong heritage of textile manufacture and design, but also to enable young people to get involved in the research, marketing and promotion of our county.

"Tartan is recognised worldwide and Ronan's design will live on in Clackmannanshire's history.

"It is my hope that, once registered with the Tartan Authority, local individuals, organisations and businesses will use the tartan design to assist the promotion of the area, products and events."

The awards ceremony was hosted by FIDA and was attended by entrants and judges along with Dollar Academy rector and FIDA founder Ian Munro.

Every young person taking part received a personal certificate of achievement and the judges were so impressed by the high standard of entries, four runner-up prizes were also awarded to Abi Morrison, Evie Muir, Chloe Murray and Lois Thomson.

Thanks go to sponsors Ceteris and McCall's Highlandwear of Tillicoultry who kindly donated £300 in prize gift vouchers.

Mhairi Taylor, art teacher at Lornshill Academy, added: "Learners were excited by working to a live brief with real deadlines and the possibility of their designs being taken forward into production as Clackmannanshire's first official tartan.

"The resources provided were excellent.

"Learners enjoyed researching Clackmannanshire's rich heritage, and many of them engaged with their own family history to develop their design ideas."

Winner Ronan will have the exciting opportunity to develop his design with Claire Hunter and see it submitted for registration.