A banner can be a
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a
coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a
banner of arms. Also, a bar-shaped piece of non-cloth advertising material sporting a name, slogan, or other marketing message is also a banner.
Banner-making is an ancient craft. Church banners commonly portray the saint to whom the church is dedicated.
The word derives from
Old French ''baniere'' (modern french: bannière), from Late Latin ''bandum'', which was borrowed from a
Germanic source (compare got, 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌰, translit=bandwa).
Cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
s include
Italian ''bandiera'',
Portuguese ''bandeira'', and
Spanish ''bandera''.
Vexillum
The vexillum was a flag-like object used as a
military standard by units in the
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
army.
The word ''vexillum'' itself is a diminutive of the Latin ''velum'', meaning a sail, which confirms the historical evidence (from coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally "little sails" i.e. flag-like standards. In the vexillum the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from the staff; this is unlike most modern flags in which the 'hoist' of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical
staff
Staff may refer to:
Pole
* Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting
** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon
* Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position
* Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particula ...
.
Heraldic banners
A heraldic banner, also called a
banner of arms, displays the basic
coat of arms only: i.e. it shows the design usually displayed on the
shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
and omits the crest, helmet or coronet, mantling, supporters, motto or any other elements associated with the full
armorial achievement (for further details of these elements, see
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
). A heraldic banner is usually square or rectangular.
A distinction exists between the heraldic banner and the
heraldic standard. The distinction, however, is often misunderstood or ignored. For example, the
Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is in fact a banner of the royal arms.
File:Royal Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg, The full armorial achievement of the arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
of the Kingdom of Scotland (before the Union of the Crowns)
File:Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg, The arms as depicted on the escutcheon
Escutcheon may refer to:
* Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms
* Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door
* (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...
File:Royal Standard of Scotland.svg, " The Lion Rampant": the banner of the King of Scots
File:Wolsey banner.jpg, Banner of Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...
File:Banner of Lincoln.svg, Banner of Lincoln
File:Banner of the arms of the British Broadcasting Corporation.svg, Banner of the British Broadcasting Corporation
Banners in Christianity
In the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, the
prophet Isaiah was commanded to raise a banner and exalt his voice ().
Habakkuk received a similar order to write a vision upon tables that could be read by one who runs past it ().
Banners in churches have, in the past, been used mainly for
processions, both inside and outside of the church building. However, the emphasis has, in recent years, shifted markedly towards the permanent or transient display of banners on walls or pillars of churches and other places of worship. A famous example of large banners on display is
Liverpool R.C. Cathedral, where the banners are designed by a resident artist.
Banners are also used to communicate the
testimony of Jesus Christ by
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
s and public ministers engaged in
Open Air Preaching
Open-air preaching, street preaching, or public preaching is the act of evangelizing a religious faith in public places. It is an ancient method of proselytizing a religious or social message and has been used by many cultures and religious tradit ...
.
Trade union banners
The
iconography
Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
of these banners included mines, mills, and factories, but also visions of the future, showing a land where children and adults were well-fed and living in tidy brick-built houses, where the old and sick were cared for, where the burden of work was lessened by new technology, and where leisure time was increasing. The same kind of banners are also used in many other countries. Many, but not all of them, have
red as a dominant colour.
In Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, trade union banners were unfurled with pride in annual Eight Hour Day marches which advocated ‘Eight Hours Labour, Eight Hours Recreation and Eight Hours Rest’. These marches were one of the most prominent annual celebrations staged in Australia by any group. In Sydney alone, by the early twentieth century, thousands of unionists representing up to seventy different unions would take part in such parades, marching behind the banner emblematic of their trade. Most of these banners have not survived; the Labour Council of NSW has the largest surviving collection at
Sydney Trades Hall
The Sydney Trades Hall is a heritage-listed trade union building located at 4-10 Goulburn Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by John Smedle ...
in Sussex Street, Sydney.
The
State Library of NSW in Sydney has a small collection of trade union banners that were donated to the Library in the early 1970s such as a Federated Society of Boilermakers, Iron & Steel Shipbuilders of Australia banner thought to have been made c. 1913–1919. The Federated Society of Boilermakers, Iron & Steel Shipbuilders of Australia was formed in 1873 and joined the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union in 1972.
The banner features a kneeling figure in the centre surrounded by scroll work and is decorated with Australian native flowers and images representative of the work of the Union's members such as a New South Wales Government Railways 34 class steam locomotive, the Hawkesbury River rail bridge built in 1889, and a furnace. The reverse of the banner shows the warship ''Australia'' at sea. The banner is canvas and was painted by Sydney firm Althouse & Geiger, master painters and decorators. Founded in 1875, the company is still in operation. The banner is a powerful interpretive tool in communicating the experience and the history of the Australian labour movement.
For more on the design and making of these banners, see
Banner-making.
Sports banners
Sports fans often buy or make banners to display in the grandstands. Team banners typically contain the logo, name or nickname, motto and the team colors. Banners on individual competitors can contain a picture or drawing of the player. Sports banners may also honor notable players or hall-of-fame athletes and commemorate past championships won. These types of sports banners are typically hung from
rafters in stadiums and arenas. In North American indoor professional sports, the previous season's champion traditionally does not install their awarded championship banner until moments prior to their first home game of the season that follows, in a ceremony that is chiefly referred to as "raising the banner".
Uruguay's
Club Nacional de Football supporters made a 600 x 50 metre banner that weighs over 2 tonnes; they claim it is the largest in the world. It was unveiled in April 2013 in a
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
football match at the
Estadio Centenario.
Advertising banners
Often fabricated commercially on a plastic background, the banner industry has developed from the traditional cut-vinyl banners to banners printed within large, ultra-wide format
inkjet printers on various vinyl and fabric materials using
solvent ink
A solvent (s) (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a ...
s and
ultraviolet-curable inks.
Banners are used in many business ventures, marketing to their potential audience. A number of British towns and cities have whole series of banners decorating their city centers, effectively advertising the town or its special features and attractions. Pre-printed banners, albeit commonly used, are simple and accessible. Banners can be printed in enormous formats, with a full range of rich colors. They can also be used in many different physical situations whether it be hanging from an existing fixture, fixed to a wall or even free standing. When an advertising banner is hung or suspended between posts, grommets or another method of attachment are necessary to prevent the banner from tearing or flying away. Aluminum grommets can be punched into the banner and used as secure entry points to tie the banner down. This installation method allows for more durable advertisements. Some vendors offer pre-installed
grommets
Curtain grommets, used among others in shower curtains.
A grommet is a ring or edge strip inserted into a hole through thin material, typically a sheet of textile fabric, sheet metal or composite of carbon fiber, wood or honeycomb. Grommets ar ...
. Another common form of free standing banners are retractable displays.
Banners can be found plastered behind a window screen, as billboards, atop skyscrapers, or
towed by airplanes or blimps. As with variable of size and quantity, the number of sides and quality of ink are as much of a crucial factor. In an instance of retail stores which purchase pre-printed clearance banners, or a variety of sale banner. A banner facing underneath or against glass is absorbing exposure from the sun. A banner printed on UV outdoor ink will last several years to a decade where cheaper ink fades, requiring frequent replacement. Being behind glass, a two-sided banner can be displayed from the inside and out, often building recognition between shoppers and caretakers. Three-sided banners are often appealing as there is dimension and can be embellished differently. The more sides that exist, the more angles the banner covers, which is a possibility where a two-sided banner doesn't face the viewer from center of the room or streets.
Another manifestation of advertising banners, unique to the 21st century, are "
banner ad
A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking ...
s", which are advertisements on websites. The banner ads contain hyperlinks to other websites. Also, on free music streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora, audio advertisements will play in between songs. One of the common tag lines is "Click the banner to learn more."
Big letter banners (China)
In China, it is common to find large red coloured banners, especially in schools, factories, government institutions and construction sites. Also called da zi bao (), these tend to be big and long, usually with red backgrounds and large Chinese characters. They tend to have motivational messages or industrial milestones on them. Historically, these
big character posters (da zi bao) were used to convey messages during the
cultural revolution, but their use changed after the country's liberalization since 1979.
See also
*
Banners in Northern Ireland
Banners are a significant part of the Culture of Northern Ireland, particularly for the Protestant/Irish unionism, unionist community, and one of the region's most prominent types of folk art. They are typically carried in Parades in Northern Ire ...
*
County Clare in
Ireland is known as the ''Banner County''.
*
Gonfalone
The gonfalon, gonfanon, gonfalone (from the early Italian ''confalone'') is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar in an identical manner to the ancient Roman v ...
*
Heraldic standard
*
Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy).
The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly ...
*
Knight Banneret
A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight ("a commoner of rank") who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner (which was square-shaped, in contrast to the tapering standard or the penn ...
*
Nobori
*
Sashimono
*
Stainless Banner
The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...
*''
The Star-Spangled Banner''
*
Vexillum
*
Vinyl banners
Vinyl banners are a form of outdoor advertising. Most banners are now digitally printed on large format inkjet printers which are capable of printing a full color outdoor billboard on a single piece of material.
Materials
The most commonly used ...
*
Web banner
References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline, Banners
Types of flags
Signage