What is bunting?

Square And Triangle Bunting

Bunting is a type of decoration made up of a series of small flags or pennants attached to a string. Originally having a naval use, bunting has become a popular decoration for public celebrations, parties, festivals, and more. Modern bunting comes in a variety of shapes and colours, and it can be made from a range of materials. Bunting can have plain multicoloured flags or can be printed with various designs—allowing it to be used for many promotional and branding applications. Bunting is a great way to bring a festive spirit and dynamism to events and interiors. In this bunting buyers guide, we explore some of the key considerations when purchasing bunting.

Different uses for bunting

Traditionally used as a decoration for street parties and public celebrations, bunting has recently become a popular decorative tool for use across a host of different applications.

  • Private celebrations - Bunting is a popular decoration for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, family gatherings, and other important events. Custom printed bunting can add a personal touch to events.
  • Retail promotions - Shops, boutiques, food stores, cafes, and other high-street stores often use bunting to give energy and a retro sense of fun to their interiors. Custom branded bunting can be used to promote sales, store openings, product launches, etc.
  • Promotional events - Bunting can give energy and buzz to corporate promotional and marketing events such as trade shows, business fairs, conferences, and exhibitions. It can be used to enliven an exhibition stand or a larger venue.
  • Pubs and restaurants - Hospitality businesses can use bunting to create a fun lively atmosphere for their pub, café, bar, street market, or restaurant. Pubs commonly use national flag bunting to promote sporting events.
  • Outdoor events - Bunting is a classic and timeless decoration for public outdoor events such as festivals, street parties, music festivals, country fairs, and more.
Bake Sale Bunting
Nursery Bunting
High Street Bunting
Outdoor Event Bunting

The benefits of using bunting

With its positive associations with good times and nostalgia, bunting offers a range of benefits:

  • Fun festive appearance - A simple string of bunting can transform any space, bringing positive energy and a sense of fun.
  • Affordability - Bunting is a very cost-effective form of decoration. With strings of flags costing from around £11, bunting is a low cost and high-impact choice.
  • Personalisation - Custom printed bunting is a great way to add a special personal element to parties and weddings.
  • Branding - Branded bunding can be printed with the name and/or logo of a business, offering an affordable and engaging way to increase the visibility of your brand.
  • Easy to hang - Bunting is quick and easy to hang up and take down. The lightweight strings can be tied to almost any object.

Bunting materials

Bunting can be made out of a variety of materials, depending on where it will be used and for how long. Some materials can be used outdoors, while others are more suitable for indoor use.

PVC bunting provides a heavy-duty decoration that is ideally suited to long-term outdoor use, such as in pub gardens or funfairs. Paper bunting offers an excellent surface for custom printing with vibrant bespoke colours and is best suited for temporary events and indoor promotions. Polyester fabric bunting is a popular and hard-wearing bunting material that is used for predesigned flags and custom designs, as well as both indoors and outdoors.

Shapes and lengths

Classic bunting generally features triangular flags or pennants that hang vertically from a string. Rectangular bunting is a popular option for national flags and is also available as an option for our custom printed bunting. Rectangular flags may be better suited to some designs, depending on the shape and dimensions of your logo, name, and branding. Our special sale bunting features rectangular pennants that hang horizontally, giving more space for the printed text. Nautical bunting features a selection of traditional maritime flags that are great for seaside pubs, boat shows, yachts, and sailing festivals.

Bunting comes in various string lengths (3–20m) and with varying numbers of flags on each string (10 to 40 flags), so it is important to factor this into the cost when deciding on the best option for your event.

Predesigned bunting

Predesigned bunting comes with a choice of popular and commonly used designs. Our predesigned bunting is screen printed onto woven polyester fabric for a classic look. Designs include various union jack, English, Scottish, and Welsh flags, as well as remembrance day poppy flags, festive Christmas flags, and retail sale bunting.

Custom printed bunting

Custom printed bunting lets you print a design and colour of your choice on each flag. This is a great way to create branded bunting for marketing and retail promotions, as well as for bringing a personal touch to family celebrations such as weddings. Custom printed bunting can be printed on PVC, polyester fabric, or paper—offering a range of finish styles. Your pennants can be triangular or rectangular and we can perfectly reproduce the colour of your branding. We print our bunting using state-of-the-art digital printers and inks, for super sharp and vibrant graphics.

Considerations when purchasing bunting

Here are a few additional factors to consider when deciding on the best type of bunting for your event or location.

  • Indoor or outdoor use - While all bunting can be used outdoors in the short-term, types such as our Personalised Fabric Bunting and Heavy Duty Outdoor Multicoloured Event Flags have been specially designed for long-term use outdoors.
  • Single or double-sided printing - Single-sided printed bunting is ideal for hanging against a wall, while double-sided types are better for stringing across a room or street. Our custom fabric bunting is printed on one side with the image showing through on the reverse. Paper bunting can be printed double-sided, while PVC bunting is single-sided.
Heavy Outdoor Duty Bunting
Custom Printed Bunting

Why buy bunting from Discount Displays?

Reliable quality

We have been in the display and printing business for over 30 years and have found the products that offer the best performance and value for money. Our bunting is well-made and designed for professional use.

Superb graphics

All our custom bunting is printed in-house at our UK print workshop. This ensures we get the very best results, with stunningly sharp graphics and bright vivid colours.

England Event Bunting

Personalised service

As a UK company with an experienced team of advisors, we can help you find the perfect bunting for your application. We can also help with all aspects of the design and printing process.

Fast deliveries

With a warehouse, design studio, and print facility all under one roof, we have optimised our processes to offer fast turnarounds. We can print and deliver your bespoke bunting in 4–7 working days.

Lowest prices guaranteed

We aim to offer the very best quality at the lowest prices. Our price match promise means we will beat any quote from a competing supplier.

Large Format Printer