Definition of "banner"

banner¹

/ˈbænə/

noun
plural banners
1. A flag or standard used by a military commander, monarch or nation.
  Quotations
  “To hold Arrakis,” the Duke said, “one is faced with decisions that may cost one his self-respect.” He pointed out the window to the Atreides green and black banner hanging limply from a staff at the edge of the landing field. "That honorable banner could come to mean many evil things."
  1965, Frank Herbert, Dune‎ (Science Fiction), New York: Ace Books, page 112‎
2. (by extension) The military unit under such a flag or standard.
3. (by extension) A military or administrative subdivision.
4. Any large sign, especially when made of soft material or fabric.
5. A large piece of cloth with a slogan, motto, or emblem carried in a demonstration or other procession or suspended in some conspicuous place.
6. (by extension, figurative) A cause or purpose; a campaign or movement.
7. (journalism) The title of a newspaper as printed on its front page; the nameplate; masthead.
8. (Internet, television) A type of advertisement on a web page or on television, usually taking the form of a graphic or animation above or alongside the content.
9. (heraldry) The principal standard of a knight.
10. A type of administrative division in Inner Mongolia and Tuva, made during the Qing dynasty; at that time, Outer Mongolia and part of Xinjiang were also divided into banners.
adjective
not comparable
1. Exceptional; very good.
  Quotations
  The year just closed has been the banner year for New-Hampshire Home Missions. The amount raised for the cause is $505,38 more than ever was raised before in any one year.
  1853, New-Hampshire Missionary Society, “Annual Report of the Trustees of the New Hampshire Missionary Society, Volumes 50-57”, in Annual Report of the Trustees of the New Hampshire Missionary Society‎, volume 53, Steam power press of McFarland & Jenks, page 16
  The Zenger decision was a banner achievement for freedom of the press. It pointed the way to the kind of open public discussion required by the diverse society that colonial New York already was and that all America was to become.
  2016, David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, Mel Piehl, The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic, page 73
verb
third-person singular simple present banners, present participle bannering, simple past and past participle bannered
1. (transitive) To adorn with a banner.
2. (transitive, journalism) To display as a banner headline.
  Quotations
  At 8:11, bannering the headline “Cheney in Charge?” the Drudge Report runs a story speculating that the president may be incapacitated.
  2008, Howard Rosenberg, Charles S. Feldman, No Time To Think

banner²

/ˈbænə/

noun
plural banners
1. One who bans something.
  Quotations
  How ridiculous the banners of some of the books at present on the list will appear in the future.
  1963, The Australian Library Journal, volumes 1-14, page 69