Banners in Minecraft
Banners are crafted from wool and a stick. The banner will be the same colour as the wool you use.
Banners can be placed on the ground or on a wall, or they can be used to place a design on a Shield.
Adding patterns to Banners
Patterns can be added to banners using dyes. Place the dyes in the correct pattern in the crafting grid. The banner you wish to add the pattern to can go in any free slot on the grid.
The patterns have some rather strange names when you mouse over them. These names come from the language used to describe the coats of arms painted on knights’ shields in mediaeval times. Here is a guide to this language
Banners with half, stripe and cross patterns.
###Halves
Divide your banner in halves horizontally, vertically by placing a pattern of 6 dyes, arranged to the left, right, top or bottom of the grid.
Divide your banner in halves diagonally by placing 3 dyes in one of the four corners.
###Stripes
You can make a single stripe by placing a line of 3 dyes either horizontally or vertically.
Divide the whole banner into multiple vertical stripes with 4 dyes as shown below:
Crosses
Can you guess how to make the two types of cross? It’s not hard!
Background patterns
Banner gradients and Field Masoned.
A gradient is made with a pattern of 4 dyes; flip the pattern to make it go from bottom to top.
To make a brickwork pattern, combine your banner with a brick block.
For a coloured pattern, use bricks and dye together.
###Borders
Banners with borders and a variety of shapes and icons.
Plain borders are made by placing 8 pieces of dye all around the edges:
A fancy border can be made by combining a banner with a piece of vine. To make it a coloured border, use a piece of vine and a dye.
###Shapes
Squares in each corner can be made by placing a single piece of dye.
A chevron is a triangle at the top or bottom, made with three pieces of dye as shown:
A similar pattern of three dyes will produce a row of teeth at the top or bottom.
A single piece of dye in the centre will give a small round spot.
Four pieces of dye gets you a lozenge shape.
###Icons
Finally, a number of items can be combined with banners to add a charge (a symbol or icon).
Add the item to a banner to give an icon in black:
Combine the item, a banner and a dye to get a coloured icon:
What icons are available?
- A Creeper Head will give you a Creeper face.
- A Wither Skeleton Skull will give you a skull and crossbones.
- An Oxeye daisy will give you a flower.
- An Enchanted Golden Apple will give you the Mojang logo.
Combining patterns
Once you’ve added a pattern, you can take the new banner and add another! Banners can hold 6 patterns, so you can build up quite a complex pattern.
Maybe choose a nicer pattern than this though!
Copying Banners
Once you’ve made your banner, you don’t have to go through the whole process again. You can copy your design onto a blank banner, as long as the blank banner is made from the same colour of wool.
