We are only aware of one illustration of a Viking banner which appears on one of the Viking coins minted in York. The banner resembles a quarter circle with ribbons or metal decorations hanging from its curved bottom edge. The banner is supported by a second pole running out from the top of the staff which ensures that the banner is always visible. The top of the main pole is decorated with a cross. This style of banner very closely resembles the Viking age weather vanes and these can also be used for inspiration. The weathervanes also seem to have been fringed with ribbons because they have pierced holes along their bottom edge.
To be truly authentic the banner should be made in authentic materials (ideally wool, linen or silk) and should be hand sewn. The decoration should be applied with embroidery, appliqué, or painted on with water resistant pigments. The terminal can be carved out of wood and gilded if desired. A cast metal decoration would look rather flash but is beyond the means and budget of most of us.
Bear in mind that this style of banner needs to have a design on both sides, and you will probably need to use a double thickness of fabric depending on your method of decoration.
Well the sky is the limit now, but here are the basic forms of banners:
Centrally supported, one sided banner:
This is probably the easiest to make and is also easy to display indoors and out. You only need the design on one side and it can be decorated with fringe if desired.
Unsupported Banner:
The type used for national flags. Its major disadvantage is that it will flop down its pole in anything but a stiff wind. Hand made flags tend to be very heavy adding to the problem. It also requires decoration on both sides.
Large supported banner: One answer to the problem of displaying a banner outdoors is to support the top edge of the banner with a horizontal pole. This tends to produce a square banner as the top pole cannot be very long.
Fabric Paint: The easiest way to make a banner is to get a fabric pen and draw out the design, a fading fabric marker can be used to sketch the design first. Be very careful with using thin fabrics because the paint will bleed across the fabric, so do a test run first. If you can get away with just an outline this will also be a very inexpensive project. Fabric paints can be bought in many colours if you want to do a full colour infilled design but they do cost £1.50 - £2.00 for a small pot. Do not try to use pale colours on a dark background unless you want five coats of paint and cloth that doesn't bend anymore. Oil paint can also be used but will need to be left for a week to dry.
Appliqué: Second easiest method. Cut out you design in another fabric and either sew or glue it to the banner (use washable glue if you are taking your banner outdoors). Avoid fabrics that fray badly and use interfacing or fray prevention solvent if necessary. Felt works well on a indoor banner and is very easy to cut out and apply. The edges of the appliqué can be hidden with decorative cord which will give a machine sewn or glued design a more hand sewn appearance.
Embroidery: For a quick result use thick wool or cotton thread and outline the design in chain stitch. Chain stitch can also be used for infilling. Solid satin stitch also looks good but a banner design will take about a month (including the day job!) to complete, and if you want a design on both sides.....
Screen Printing: Another option for a modern banner if you have access to the equipment. There are plenty of companies around who will take commissions for banners but the last quote I heard was £400.
If you are stuck for ideas try heraldry books which are often full of good line drawings which can be enlarged on a photocopier and then cut out as patterns. Most good libraries will have a good selection. Cut out your design on paper or newspaper first so you can check the positioning and appearance on the fabric, you can then use this as pattern to trace round for painting or for cutting appliqué fabric.
The friends of Thorshof choose tradition dark age designs, runes, bind-runes and modern symbolism. With most choosing the easy one sided banner option.
If you are aiming for an authentic or a traditional effect choose earthy natural colours. If using felt for appliqué you can dull down the brighter colours by shading over them very lightly with a fabric pen.
The rules of heraldry are worth bearing in mind (if not obeying!), never put 'metal' colours together (white, yellow, silver or gold), and never put 'tinctures' together (blue, black, red, green, brown, purple). This makes the designs clear from a distance. If you do want to break this rule, for example if you wanted to have a gold hammer on a white background, you could separate the colours by sewing a dark cord around the edge of the design.
A flag pole needs to be five to eight feet high depending on the size of the banner. It is advisable to make it in two pieces to may it easier to store and transport. Thick dowel is easy to get hold of and can be joined with a length of plumbers pipe. Horizontal poles for the dark age style banner can be fixed by drilling the main pole slightly smaller than required and whittling the end of the horizontal pole to fit. Wooden terminals can be attached using double ended screws.