marching colours banner makers

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A thing to float in the wind, to flicker in the breeze, to flirt its colours for your pleasure, to half show and half conceal a device you long to unravel; you do not want to read it, you want to worship it.' Mary Lowndes
suffragette designer

A magnificent display of bands and emblazoned banners. The latter were indeed especially rich in material and almost faultless in design; Arranged on the outskirts of the crowd each seemed to form as great an attraction to the visitors as the platform itself. In fact the vast concourse appeared at a distance to be split up into nearly one hundred great meetings of which the colour of each colliery formed the centre. Local newspaper report of the second Durham Gala
in 1872.

Banners - a mini history

Banners have a long and colourful history, starting with religious images in churches, and pennons carried in battle.

Global influence

In more recent times, Trade Unions, Friendly Societies and the Labour movement commissioned thousands of banners world-wide throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

And don't forget the Suffragettes whose tradition of superbly designed and made banners was followed by the Women's Liberation Movement. Peace and Community groups have continued the honourable tradition of carrying banners. Marching Colours banners follow in their footsteps.

Sustainability

Nowadays, many banners printed on plastic, or cardboard placards are used for one-off events - and abandoned.

Benefits of banners

Banners are for rallying people, celebrating and proudly showing identity, for recruiting, demonstrating and presiding over meetings, so surely they should be permanent and well-made artefacts, satisfying signs of a group's identity.

A visit to the Tolpuddle Martyrs rally, held every July in Dorset, England, demonstrates the uplifting effect of the vivid colours of trade union and labour movement massed banners.

A message made to last

Marching Colours banners are hand-made in a traditional way, and made to last. The first banner we made, in 1982 is still going strong.

Want to know more?

Marching colours have made many very different handmade banners. Why not take a look at some in our portfolio ( click here ), or alternatively contact us by clicking here.

Handmade Banners are an important part of Trade Union Marches. Marching colours create the best Trade Union Banners with particular attention to detail. Handmade banners offer so much more than a convetional printed banner, Handmade banners show thought and get your trade union message accross better.

Marching Colours are an ethical company who create handmade banners particularly for the Trade Union marketplace. Our banners have been seen at Trade Union marches up and down the UK. Specialist Handmade Banner Makers, Marching Colours are unique banner makers, able to create your banner design with a personal feel. Handmade banners offer so much more than printed banners. We carry out a lot of work for Trade Unions, specialising in marching banners and trade union banners.