How to make a banner in minecraft java

Everything you need to know about Minecraft banners - what they look like, where you find them, whether they go well in a stew or not

Table of Contents Show

How to craft Minecraft banners
Minecraft banner designs
Minecraft banner letters
How to Make Banners in Minecraft
Related: Minecraft: How to Get a Froglight
Adding patterns to Banners
Background patterns
Combining patterns

PCGamesN

Updated: Mar 1, 2022

Minecraft

So, you want to know about Minecraft banners? The best Minecraft banners can really add some bling to your Minecraft builds, as these tall, thin blocks are highly customisable. You can use them in a variety of ways; for example you can combine one with a Minecraft shield to add a pattern, you can use it to decorate your buildings, and you can even wear one as a hat (sort of).

In the Minecraft Java edition, you can also use banners to leave markers on a map to make navigation easier. Banners can hold up to six layers of patterns, 16 if you’re using Minecraft console commands. You can craft them from wool, and the colour of the wool will influence the design of your banner.

However, knowing you want a Minecraft banner and actually getting one are two different things. It’s a good thing we created this handy guide for you. Join us as we explore everything you need to know about banners in Minecraft, including how to put letters on them and what the best banner designs are.

How to craft Minecraft banners

Crafting a banner in Minecraft is easy, although there are countless designs to choose from, which makes it a little bit tricky. First, you’ll want plenty of wool and one stick. Go into your crafting table screen and arrange the pieces with the stick in the bottom middle slot and the top six slots all occupied by wool.

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To choose a design you need to craft a loom, interact with it, place the banner in the top left slot, and any dye materials in the top right slot, which should bring up a menu of possible designs. Alternatively, you can use the crafting table and arrange dyes around your banner until you find the pattern that’s right for you.

There are a huge number of Minecraft banner patterns out there, from simple brickwork backgrounds to skull and crossbones designs, and you can even match the two.

Most patterns and designs are easy to figure out by simply arranging your dyes around the banner in various quantities and positions, but here are some more complex banner patterns:

Brickwork pattern: combine brick block and banner
Colourful brickwork pattern: combine brick block, dye, and banner
Fancy border: combine dye, vine, and banner
Creeper face: combine Creeper head and banner (dye optional)
Skull and crossbones: combine Wither head and banner
Flower: combine oxeye daisy and banner
Mojang logo: combine an enchanted golden apple and banner

Remember, you can mix and match any of these designs by simply layering over the top of your banner with a new design, meaning you can mix borders, colours, and logos. For more great banner designs in Minecraft, you can check out this website.

If you get really creative, you can even make letters for your Minecraft banners. While the limited space means it’s hard to create every letter convincingly, most are possible, such as placing your initials on your shield. Although bear in mind you need a lot of resources for these designs.

Check out this video for a quick and effective walkthrough of how to make each letter:

Other Minecraft banner tips:

To add a banner to a shield, simply put the shield and the banner in the crafting grid next to each other. Note that shields can’t render as many layers as the banner itself can, so it may look a little off.
In Java edition, banners cannot be equipped as helmets unless you use a console command
You can copy a banner, provided both have the same basic pattern, and there is only a preexisting pattern on the banner you are copying
Water and lava flow around banners
In an emergency, you can use banners as fuel for furnaces, and you can smelt 1.5 items per banner

There you go – everything you need to know about Minecraft banners. If you’re looking for more Minecraft resources, we’ve got a guide to best Minecraft texture packs, best Minecraft mods, and best Minecraft mods.

Contributions by Gina Lees and Joe Robinson.

Banners are decorative blocks that offer various uses and customization options. You can both customize the color of a banner and add up to six different patterns onto it. Illager captains also use a special banner during village raids. By the end of this guide, you will learn how to make banners in Minecraft Bedrock and Java Editions.

How to Make Banners in Minecraft

To make banners in Minecraft, you must craft them using a crafting table. The blocks and items will not fit in your 2×2 inventory crafting space. To craft a banner, you need six wool blocks and one stick. The banner’s colour will depend on the wool you use to make it. Using multiple wool colors in the same recipe will not work. For example, the image above shows the crafting recipe you need to make a white banner. If you are playing Minecraft Education Edition, you can use bleach on a colored banner to change it to white. If you are playing Minecraft Java Edition, this option is not available. You will need to craft a new banner or add patterns to cover the old color.

Additionally, several locations naturally spawn banners if you do not wish to craft one. The following places are locations you may explore to find naturally-generated banners in Minecraft Bedrock and Java Editions:

Magenta and black banners spawn outside of end cities.
Solid-colored gray banners generate in banner rooms in woodland mansions.
Light gray banners with a white flower charge symbol spawn woodland mansion bedrooms.
Solid-colored black banners spawn in altar rooms in woodland mansions.
Solid-colored brown banners generate outside of savanna village houses.

Once you have your banner, you can use a loom to add patterns to it. To add a pattern, add your banner, any dye color, and your chosen design to the looms interface. The banner will appear in the top right corner to view before you confirm. Click on the small banner icon beside the three items to confirm the selection and obtain your new banner. If you do not wish to use one of the six pattern papers, there are also numerous banner designs that you may use. Some of these other patterns include gradients, horizontal and vertical lines, triangles and squares.

Minecraft is available on PC, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation platforms.

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!

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.