Hanging Outdoor Banners

Outdoor PVC Banners are a highly effective, low-cost method of displaying your message outdoors. They can be used to advertise an event, promote a product or service, create awareness, direct traffic, or build local brand awareness. Printed banners are cheap to order and can last outdoors in all weather. To maximise the impact of your printed banner, it must be hung correctly to extend its life outdoors. Poorly hung banners can rip or become loose, especially in periods of bad weather. Our guide shows some of the ways to hang a banner outdoors. The terminology in this guide is explained in more detail in our Outdoor Banner Printing FAQ page.

Before You Start

Before you order your PVC banner, measure the space available to display it and order this size. Although most online banner printers will sell standard-size banners, most will be able to provide a custom size if this is a better fit for the space you have.

Also, determine what you have available to hang your banner – will it be railings, a fence, posts or a self-standing banner frame? Most importantly, you should ensure you have permission to use the structure for banner advertising and that you are not breaking any bylaws.

Finally, when hanging a banner, ensure you attach it with EVERY eyelet to spread the force across the whole banner—DO NOT use just the four corner eyelets. This will put too much stress on the corners, and the eyelets will rip out during windy periods.

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How To Hang A Banner To A Wall Or Wooden Panel Fence

Attaching a printed banner to a wall is the most secure way of displaying a banner, as the wall will protect the banner from wind. The best way of attaching the banner is to screw the banner to the wall using screws and washers.

What will you need?

Steel washers (ideally 25mm diameter with 5mm hole – 1 per eyelet)
Wall plugs and screws (for brick wall)
Self-tapping screws (wooden fence)
Drill for drilling holes into the wall

Method

Hold the banner to the wall or fence and mark the positions to drill the holes through each eyelet.
Brick Wall – Drill the hole of the correct size for your wall plugs.
Screw the banner to the wall or fence with a screw and washer through each eyelet. If screwing to a wall, use self-tapping wood screws.
Ensure the washer being used is large enough to cover the eyelet.

How To Hang A Banner To A Wire Fence Or Railings

The most cost-effective way of attaching a banner to a fence or railing is to use cable ties. This makes a secure fixing; however, cable ties are inflexible, so in periods of high wind, the eyelets may rip out of the banner. If the fence is in a high-wind area, it would be better to use bungee cords or strips of elastic rope, which will allow the banner some movement in the wind.

What will you need?

Cable Tie Method – One cable tie per eyelet – we recommend 370mm black cable ties.
Bungee Cord Method – Banner bungee cord fixings or 6mm bungee rope (shock cord)

Method

Attach the banner to the fence or rails using the cable ties or bungee cords through EACH eyelet.
Ensure you fix every available eyelet to the fence to spread the force across the banner.
Attach the banner in a way that ensures the banner is held taut across the fence.

How To Hang A Banner Between Two Poles Or Posts

Care must be taken when hanging a banner between two poles as the banner has the potential to act like a sail by catching the wind and becoming damaged. To avoid the banner being damaged it is important to provide support across the length of the banner. In areas of high wind it is also advisable to order PVC Mesh Banners as these banners have holes in them which allows some of the wind to pass through the banner.

What will you need?

Poles or posts – Two upright poles fixed securely into the ground. If installing your own posts ensure that they are very secure as the full force of the wind will be pulling against them.
Rope – Two lengths of strong rope long enough to span the distance between the two poles. We recommend at least 8mm Nylon rope.
Bungee Cord – 4 bungee cords to attach to each corner
Cable Ties – if using the cable tie method below you will also need 1 cable tie per eyelet.

Rope Threading Method

Tie one end of the top rope to one of the poles.
Thread the rope through each eyelet on the top of the banner.
Attach the other end of the rope to the other pole ensure the rope is taut.
Repeat the same process for the second rope through the bottom row of eyelets.
Once the ropes are threaded through both top and bottom eyelets use a bungee cord or shock cord through each of the corner eyelets and pull this tight to stretch the banner and keep it taut.

Cable tie method

One of the downsides of threading a rope through the eyelets as we have done above is that the rope can cover over some of the print on the banner. To avoid this you can use cable ties instead to attach the banner.

For this method tie the top rope to both poles and make taut.

Attach the banner to the top rope using cable ties through each of the eyelet holes. Do not fully tighten the cable ties they should be able to slide over the rope like a curtain.
Now tie the bottom rope between the two poles and make taut, using the height of the banner as a guide for where to tie the rope.
Attach the bottom eyelets to the rope with cable ties in the same way as the top row.
Now use a bungee cord on each corner to pull the banner taut.

Rope cable tie banner fixing method close up

We hope you have found this guide useful. We have tried to cover the more common methods of hanging a banner outdoors, however banners are so versatile that there can be a multitude of different structures suitable for this purpose. The key to successfully hanging a banner is to use every available eyelet to give the banner as much support as possible.