Another New Logo Coming to Fall River Before 2023

Are you someone who likes to design logos? Fall River is looking for your help and is willing to pay for it.

The city has announced a new contest that is open to the public.

Fall River's logo is getting updated, and the city is looking for people to submit ideas and entries. The winning submission will receive $500 in cash, but, more importantly,  the winner will have the distinction of having designed a logo for one of the biggest cities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

While the idea of a new logo is exciting, the idea of a new slogan has not been discussed. Fall River's "We'll Try" slogan appears on the left shoulder of every Fall River police officer. While it tends to get some good-natured ribbing from people both inside and outside of the city, the slogan came about after one of the worst fires in Fall River's history, the Great Fire of 1843.

Fall River's current logo was developed by professional designers, with a hefty price tag, during the Jasiel Correia administration.  It is made up of an F and an R in two-tone green.  Below it is the slogan "Make It Here."

In a 2017 Providence Journal article, Mayor Correia said that the logo and color invoke the city's industrial history, with the dotted lines at the top of the "F" representing stitching from the textile industry.

A spokesperson for Mayor Paul Coogan says the idea for a logo change came about as part of an update plan for the website, saying, "the old one never stuck."

It's hard not to wonder if Coogan's administration may also be looking to distance the city from the former mayor, who is now serving prison time in New Hampshire for corruption.

As far as a revamping of the "We'll Try" slogan, the mayor's office says that's not going anywhere.

"It's part of the city's seal and history."

The new logo will be part of a redesign of the city's website, which should launch in the next few months. Entries for the new logo must be submitted by Sept, 30. Amateurs as well as professionals are urged to enter.