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Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
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Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
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Minecraft Banner

Minecraft Banner: Designs, Crafting & Uses

The Minecraft banner is not just a decorative item but also a way to express creativity and claim territories in the Minecraft world. These banners come in various colors and can be customized with different patterns and motifs. This guide will explore the various aspects of the Minecraft banner, including how to craft it, designing custom banners and their practical uses in the game.

Overview Minecraft Banners:

  • crafted or collected
  • high number of designs
  • 16 different dye colors
  • can mark your territory

How to Craft a Banner in Minecraft

To understand how to craft a banner in Minecraft, take a look at the Minecraft banner recipe:

1x stick + (dyed) wool = 1x banner

Minecraft Banner recipe

A banner in Minecraft requires 6x wool of the same color and a stick. To craft a banner, Minecraft requires you to place the wool blocks in the top two rows of the crafting grid and the stick in the center of the bottom row. This recipe is the foundation of all Minecraft banner designs. As you will need a lot of wool to craft enough Minecraft banners for your village or castle, you should find out more about Minecraft sheep and how to breed them.

The Colors of the Minecraft Banner

A Minecraft banner can be crafted in 16 different base colors, depending on the wool used in its creation. Since the banner color responds to the dyed wool, these are the available colors:

  • black
  • blue
  • brown
  • cyan
  • gray
  • green
  • light blue
  • light gray
  • lime
  • magenta
  • orange
  • pink
  • purple
  • red
  • white
  • yellow

If you play the Bedrock Edition or the Minecraft Education Edition, you can use the bleach item to turn any colored Minecraft banner into a white banner. Simply combine them in your 3×3 crafting grid.

Minecraft Banner Designs: Patterns

Beside the color of the Minecraft banner, there are also different patterns you can apply. There are 10 patterns total, but not all of them are available to you, depending on the edition you play. To craft a patterned banner, you first need to craft a banner pattern. Most of them simply require paper and one additional ingredient. Here is an overview for all of the patterns Minecraft banner designs can include and which ingredients you need to craft their patterns:

Pattern NameAvailabilityRequired Ingredient (+ paper)
bordure indentedBedrock & Education Edition exclusivevines
creeper chargeany editioncreeper head
field masonedBedrock & Education Edition exclusivebricks
flow bannerany editioncan’t be crafted, looted from an ominous vault chest in a trial chamber
flower chargeany editionoxeye daisy
globeany editioncan’t be crafted, traded from a master-level cartographer (costs 8x emeralds)
guster bannerany editioncan’t be crafted, looted from an ominous vault chest in a trial chamber
skull chargeany editionwither skeleton skull
snoutany editioncan’t be crafted, looted from a bastion remnant
thingany editionenchanted golden apple

Additionally, some banners can be found in the wild, so you don’t necessarily need to craft them:

  • black banner (woodland mansion altar room)
  • brown banner (savannah villages)
  • gray banner (woodland mansion banner room)
  • light gray banner ( woodland mansion master room)
  • magenta banner with black chevron and inverted chevron (end cities)

Due to the high number of available patterns, all of which can be crafted in any color, the number of possible combinations is a staggering 809,573,616,779,945,488. This gigantic number may be intimidating at first, but there is absolutely no need for you to craft every single one. 

How to Make Custom Banners in Minecraft

When creating custom banners, Minecraft requires using the loom, which was introduced in recent updates and provides a more user-friendly interface for banner customization. Using the loom, there is a very high diversity when it comes to Minecraft banner designs as any of these patterns can be added with any of the 16 colors. Any Minecraft banner design can be constructed from up to 6 different patterns.

If you enter a Minecraft banner and dye, you will get options on which parts of your Minecraft banner will be colored. If you add an additional Minecraft banner pattern, you won’t have these options. Then, it will only give you the colored option of this specific pattern. However, the customization of your Minecraft banner designs doesn’t end with just adding patterns. You can combine up to 6 layers of patterns to craft highly intricate and personalized banners. Each layer requires a new dye, and the patterns can be overlaid and combined in various ways to create complex images or symbols.

Besides allowing you to customize your Minecraft banner designs, the loom also causes a villager to become a shepherd. This type of villager is someone you can trade with, offering banners and paintings.

Tip:

If you have crafted a pattern, it is not lost with use, so you can create banners with that pattern as often as you want. 

How to Use Banners in Minecraft

To effectively utilize a Minecraft banner, you can mount it on any vertical surface, from walls to trees. Additionally, you can copy your custom banners. By combining a crafted banner with a blank banner of the same base color, players can duplicate intricate designs. This is particularly useful for outfitting large areas or multiple players with the same banner for identification. At the end of the day, however, while Minecraft banner designs come in handy for SMP and other multiplayer adventures, they are mainly used simply for atmosphere. But that shouldn’t keep you from using them, as an enjoyable atmosphere is a cornerstone of an enjoyable game.

Last Tips: Minecraft Banner Uses

A Minecraft banner isn’t only about aesthetics; it has several practical uses. For example, you can use it for marking territories and waypoints. This is especially useful when you explore an uncharted part of the map, as you can mark important places by using those banners. Furthermore, it can be placed on shields, where it not only adds distinction but also helps in identifying players during battles in multiplayer modes. Alternatively, you can mount your MC banner onto your helmet (in Java Edition) or your chestplate (Bedrock and Education Edition) to signal your loyalty. This little trick is used by Mojang to create the illager captains during raids

Conclusion: Minecraft Banner Designs

The good old Minecraft banner is more than just a decorative element; it is a medium through which players can express themselves, claim territory and even guide their adventures in the expansive world of Minecraft. Whether you’re looking to decorate your home base or create a unique flag for your clan, the tools for crafting and customizing an unique Minecraft banner provide a robust platform for creativity and expression. And if you want to try these designs right now, you can join a Minecraft server from G-Portal and place as many banners in your world as you like.

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