A Brief History of Banners

Banner making is an ancient craft which is still very popular in modern day. A banner is just like a flag or a piece of cloth carrying a symbol, logo, slogan or any custom message. The word banner is derived from a Latin name "bandum", a cloth used to make flags.

Banners are even mentioned in the Old Testament. They were a rallying point in battle. A banner named sashimono was used by Japanese soldiers to identify themselves on the battle field. The 15th and 16th century saw the maximum use of sashimono in feudal Japan. Banners outlived in crusades and in many other battle fields and wars including American Civil War.

Banners are used in the annual Palio race of Italy to distinguish between the individual contrade. This race takes place in many towns across Italy. In Siena the winner is awarded with a silk banner.

What is the difference between a BANNER and a FLAG?
One side of a flag is tied with a pole or mast and the rest of the cloth swirls in the air. Flag is horizontally positioned on a vertical flagpole. A Banner on the other hand has a sleeve on the top of the vertical end. It is hanged vertically off a small pole.

In the modern day and age a there are other forms of banners as well. For example: web banner. A web banner or banner ad is a mode of advertisement on the World Wide Web. This unique form of online advertisement entails embedding an ad into a web page. The motive of such banner ads is to attract more customers to the advertiser's website.

A simple banner ad can be an image of formats like a GIF or JPEG. Banner ads can also be created of JavaScript program or multimedia object employing technologies such as Java, Shockwave or Flash. These ads are used on a website which usually had very good incoming traffic like an online newspaper or a message board.