How to make custom banners in Minecraft 1.16.5

Custom creeper banner (Image via Minecraft)
Custom creeper banner (Image via Minecraft)

Banners are decorative Minecraft blocks that can be custom created to look exactly the way a player wants.

Players oftentimes put custom banners on completed bases, houses, and captured areas. Banners can be placed on shields, walls, on top of blocks, and in every place imaginable. However, not every player knows how to create a custom banner. Here is a guide to creating banners in Minecraft.

Custom banners in Minecraft

To create a banner, the player will need a stick and six pieces of wool. From there, open up the crafting table and copy the image displayed below. Players can also create banners with different colors of wool beside the standard white.

How to create a banner (Image via Minecraft)
How to create a banner (Image via Minecraft)

To create special patterns on a banner, players will need their preferred dye and a loom. Players can get dyes in a variety of ways depending on which colors they want. For instance, yellow dye can be crafted from yellow flowers, and white dye is just bone meal. To get a loom, the player will need 2 strings and 2 wooden planks.

To create a pattern, put the banner into the loom and place a dye next to it. Once this is done, a variety of options will appear for the player to scroll through.

Loom options (Image via Minecraft)
Loom options (Image via Minecraft)
Loom options (Image via Minecraft)
Loom options (Image via Minecraft)

Players can combine different banners with dyes. For example, in the image above, a white banner was combined with lime dye to create a green brick pattern. Then, this green brick banner was combined with black dye to create the border. The possibilities with banner creation are almost endless because of these mechanics.

For more advanced designs like skeletons, creepers, or skulls, a banner pattern is required. Banner patterns can be created with a piece of paper and a specific item such as a creeper head.

Banner Pattern (Images via Minecraft)
Banner Pattern (Images via Minecraft)

Once the banner pattern is created, put it in the bottom slot in the loom. Put the banner in the left loom slot, and the chosen dye in the right loom slot. This will make a custom banner.

Custom Banner (Image via Minecraft)
Custom Banner (Image via Minecraft)