A Banner is a flag or other piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or other message. Banner-making is an ancient craft.
Banners are mentioned in the Old Testament where they were a rallying point in battle. (Exodus 17:15)
Banners continued to be used in the Crusades and in many other wars and battles including the American Civil War.
In Siena, the annual Palio race involves the use of banners to distinguish between the individual contrade, and a silk banner is awarded to the overall winner.
In Britain, trade union banners have been made since the 1840s, and at May Day parades, they could be counted in the hundreds. The iconography of these banners included mines, mills, 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. For more on the design and making of these banners, see: Banner-making.
Banners in churches have, in the past, been used mainly for processions, inside or 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. For more on the design and making of church banners, see: Banner-making.
See also:
History
Trade Union banners
Church Banners
Advertising Banners
These are often made commercially on a plastic background, but a number of British towns and cities have whole series of banners decorating their city centres, effectively advertising the town or its special features and attractions. For more on the design and making of such advertising banners, see: Banner-making.
