Every brave knight needs something to help identify them as he/she rides into battle against a fierce foe. Traditionally, flags or standards would identify knights in battle and in tournaments. In this project we will show you how easy it is to paint your own standard, so your knightly deeds will be recognized by all. This is a fun project for summer castle storming or Ren Faires, also you can make your own flags for our Nation’s Birthday.

Step 1: What You'll Need

Here's the supplies you'll need:

Jacquard Textile Colors

Nylon Mini Flags or Cotton Banners

Lumiere 3D - Black

Masking Tape

Scissors

Jute cord

Vanishing Marker or a pencil

Design Inspiration- check out traditional coat of arms designs online, or think of some symbols to represent yourself

Step 2: Let's Get Started

Lay out your banner/flag and tape the corners down to your work surface with masking tape to keep things from moving around. If you are using a cotton banner with a dowel, be sure to take out the dowel (one end twists off) so you can lay it flat.

Using your vanishing marker or a pencil, outline your main sections of color. This will help you to position symbols around the banner.

Step 3: Setting Up Your Image

Next, trace/draw the outlines of your symbols.

Step 4: Adding Color

Time to paint! Grab your first background color; it is best to start with the lightest if using multiple colors. Fill in your large areas of color up to the outline of your symbols. Let this dry.

Step 5: Paint Your Symbols

Next, fill in the symbols with their main color. Let this dry. Later we will go back and outline the symbol and add details in black Lumiere 3D paint, to really make them stand out.

Step 6: Heat-set Your Paint and Outlining Images

When everything is dry, use an iron to heat set your paints so they are wash fast. Standards often end up in the mud (or so we are told). This is when you can outline with Lumiere 3D, it doesn’t like to be ironed and may stick to your press cloth (we learned the hard way!) it just needs to cure for a few days before washing.

Step 7: Adding Some Variations

For some variations try cutting the bottom of your banner in various shapes, like a ribbon cut or shield. Our Jute Cord (#JCW) is great for making a string of banners to fly from your tower.