A banner is a large piece of cloth or material displaying words, symbols, or images, usually hung up or carried to attract attention. Schools hang welcome banners for new students, sports fans wave team banners at games, and stores display sale banners across their windows. Medieval knights carried banners into battle showing their family symbols, and today protesters march with banners stating their causes.

Banners work because they're big and bold: they catch your eye from far away and communicate a message instantly. A birthday banner stretched across a living room announces the celebration. A championship banner hanging in a gym commemorates past victories. The key is visibility. A banner isn't meant to be subtle or easy to miss.

As an adjective, banner can describe something exceptionally good or successful. A banner year for a business means an outstanding year of growth and achievement. A farmer might call it a banner harvest when the crops grow especially well. When used this way, banner suggests something worth celebrating, something that stands out from ordinary results the way a bright banner stands out in a crowd.