A CRAFT HISTORY

Painted on silk,
carried by hand.

Before printed placards, there were painted banners.

A large painted silk banner with a gold scroll border carried on two poles down a sunny city street, bearers seen from behind at a distance — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Silk and oil paint
Pictures with meaning
Carried by the community
Art made to be walked with

Trade unions, miners' lodges and friendly societies paid for huge banners of silk painted in oils, carried on poles through the streets. This independent guide looks at them as works of art and craft, drawing on museum and research sources.

Updated 19 October 2026

THE SHORT ANSWER

Big, painted, and
made to be carried.

Three things make these banners special.
Each comes from museum or research sources.

THE CRAFT

Oil paint on silk

The classic banner is silk painted in oils on both sides. George Tutill's firm, established in 1837, made many from 83 City Road, London, and marked some with a hand-painted maker's stamp.

Read a banner

THE COLLECTION

450 banners and counting

People's History Museum in Manchester holds over 450 banners, including the oldest trade union banner in the world, the 1821 Tin Plate Workers Society banner.

See the numbers

THE CARE

A studio just for banners

The museum's Conservation Studio was set up in 1990 to conserve its banners. Visitors can watch conservators at work through a viewing window.

How they are kept

READ A BANNER

What is painted
on the silk?

Durham miners' lodge banners show how the pictures changed over time. Pick a motif to see what it meant. The bar shows roughly when it belongs: short for the earliest banners, long for today's.

Based on a peer-reviewed study of the Durham Miners' Gala in Frontiers in Sociology (2020). History and art only; this site takes no side on any cause.

Banner reader

Choose a motifA Bible verseThe pit in its landscapeA row of almshousesBlack crepe on the polesLocal people and streets

A Bible verseEarly banners

Many early lodge banners carried Biblical references, such as Sacriston's 'Do ye unto all men as ye would they should do unto ye', after Matthew 7:12.

The pit in its landscapePlace and work

Some banners showed the colliery itself, usually in its wider setting, linking the community, the mine and the union.

A row of almshousesWelfare

The Rainton Adventure Lodge banner showed the Durham Aged Miners' Homes, housing set up through workers' own subscriptions.

Black crepe on the polesMourning

A banner draped in black crepe at the Gala meant that a man, or men, had been killed at that lodge's pit during the past year.

Local people and streetsToday's banners

The newer generation of banners gives greater prominence to images of community, often made for village banner groups.

Source: Frontiers in Sociology (2020), 'After Coal: Meanings of the Durham Miners' Gala', drawing on earlier banner studies.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

An old craft,
still walking.

One number from a museum collection,
one from today's Durham banner groups.

450+ banners

Banners in one Manchester collection

People's History Museum says it holds over 450 historic and contemporary banners, the largest collection of trade union and political banners in the world.

MUSEUM · PHM

60 groups

Banner groups in County Durham, 2019

The study counted 60 banner groups in Durham in 2019, raising money to restore historic banners and commission new ones from professional makers.

DURHAM · FRONTIERS 2020

The first Durham Miners' Gala was held on 12 August 1871. Lodge members and their families walked behind their own banner and band to a gathering by the River Wear, a format the study says remains unchanged in essence.

Close detail of a banner's painted gold scrollwork, tasselled fringe and brass fittings on the end of a wooden pole — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

FOUR THINGS TO LOOK FOR

How to read
an old banner.

Next time you see a historic banner in a museum or a procession, these details tell you how it was made and how it has lived.

Find the maker's mark
Some Tutill banners carry a hand-painted stamp, 'G. Tutill 83 City Road, London', or a painted signature mark.
Look at both sides
Many banners are a single layer of silk painted on both sides, so the back is a second picture, not a lining.
Spot the repairs
Later restorations can show as newer paint or tape. Conservators sometimes keep them as part of the banner's history.
Check for the fittings
Poles, brass holders, toppers and tasselled fringes travelled with the banner, sometimes in a long wooden box.

KEEPING THEM FLYING

Fragile silk,
patient work.

Silk banners were expensive and vulnerable to fading and damp. The Bottesford Friendly Society paid £15 9s 6d for its banner in 1888, around four months' earnings for an average manual worker, according to local historians.

At People's History Museum, conservators treat banners and other large textiles. A 2012 paper on a Tutill banner of about 1918 describes 1970s acrylic over-painting and support tape that were kept because they were stable and part of the banner's story.

A conservator's gloved hands easing a fold out of an old painted silk banner laid flat on a padded studio table — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Questions

Questions people ask

What were trade union banners made of?

The classic processional banner is silk painted in oils, often on both sides of a single layer. A conservation paper describes a Tutill banner of about 1918 in exactly this way.

Who was George Tutill?

A banner maker whose firm was established in 1837; his banners carry the address 83 City Road, London. His stylised designs, with gold scrollwork and painted scenes, are typical of many surviving union and friendly society banners.

Where can I see historic banners?

People's History Museum in Manchester holds over 450 banners, including the 1821 Tin Plate Workers Society banner, and changes its banner display each year. Its Conservation Studio can be seen through a gallery window.

Why are some banners draped in black?

At the Durham Miners' Gala, black crepe on a banner traditionally meant that someone had been killed at that lodge's pit in the past year.

Are new banners still made?

Yes. A 2020 study counted 60 banner groups in County Durham in 2019, restoring old banners and commissioning new ones, usually from professional makers.

Painted on silk,
carried by hand.