Will a native British / American explain this ,please

Hi,

What is the difference between

1: Banner
2: Placard
3: Poster

Here are three definitions taken from the Internet:

1. banner - a long piece of cloth with words written on it, sometimes stretched between two poles and carried by people taking part in a march.
2. placard - a printed or handwritten notice or sign for public display, either fixed to a wall or carried during a demonstration.
3. poster - a large printed picture used for decoration.

For me as a Brit, the two that might be interchangeable are poster and placard, as they would be a similar size and shape (traditionally anything from A4 upwards, but usually larger, and rectangular in shape, usually portrait in orientation, but sometimes landscape), but a banner will be wide and not very deep and will carry usually one line of text, but sometimes two or three, but rarely more.

In terms of distingushing a poster from a placard, both of which might be used in an advertising context, a placard might have more of a permanent nature than a poster, and it conjures up a mental image of something a bit more substantial than a poster, but this may not be a concept shared by others.

My context is a large people gathering / a procession / Rally for a cause / Election compain etc.

So reading your post I can retain Banner and Placard in my context and remove Poster from consideration. Right?

I would say so, yes, although poster is OK, too! What people carry with them on a march is definitely a banner - that's the one you really need to distinguish from the other two (see the image links below). Electoral advertisements tend to come in various forms: pamphlets or leaflets, and placards or posters being the most common. A placard might be one of those electoral advertisements for a candidate or party that we see mounted on a stake in somebody's front garden in Britain, rather like a housing 'for sale' sign.

Banner tied to railings: https://goo.gl/images/QuhfzJ

Banner carried at demonstration: https://goo.gl/images/iwHedu

Electoral placard: https://goo.gl/images/Ah3QDy

Hope this helps!

Yes, placard is becoming somewhat old-fashioned, I agree, although I would still use it for the sign outside a doctor's surgery, for example.

PS Let's not forget the pretty ubiquitous 'sign', though - if in doubt, ...

Originally Posted by dominicb

Good morning ImranBhatti
when a taxi driver is awaiting arrivals at the airport with a card announcing who he is waiting for, I would describe that as a placard.

DominicB

That example creates an image of placard. Yes I see such placards in the hands of some people on airports in the movies the name of the passenger written on it for the convenience of passenger to identify his/her receiver. Well understood the "Placard"

Originally Posted by AliGW

Banner tied to railings: https://goo.gl/images/QuhfzJ

Banner carried at demonstration: https://goo.gl/images/iwHedu

Electoral placard: https://goo.gl/images/Ah3QDy

Hope this helps!

A picture is better than a thousand words. Made me so clear to understand a banner and placard.

The last thing is a poster and a poster is a piece of printed paper made stickable on a wall or some wide surface? containing some declaration/menifesto of a political party.

It could do... but it could also advertise a concert, or a sale at the local supermarket, or a lost cat....