Name Day Banner

Name Day Banner

If you’re familiar with our posts on celebrating baptismal birthdays and name days, you’ll know that we at All the Household are big fans of a family developing a robust cycle of personal commemoration dates worth celebrating in a household. We’ve previously designed and provided, as a free download, a baptismal-themed banner that you can display on or near your home altar on that particular commemoration date. It is the perfect way to dress up your household and make that day one that is celebrated with intention!

However, this same level of intentionality is fitting for name days, too, and over the years of our own celebrations at home we have found that, once again, using a themed banner to help set aside this day can really help a household remember it well and be excited about its yearly celebration.

Along with whatever other name day commemorations you and your household decide to take up (see here for ideas), use this themed garland to talk to your loved ones about what it means to celebrate a name day, what it means for a Christian to one day take up their heavenly crown, and why the Christian teaching of “the communion of saints” is so rich. Cutting out, coloring, and jazzing up these printable name day pennants would also be a great craft to do with children in preparation for their own (or someone else’s) day. Or, it could even be part of a gift that you give your godchild or a hostess gift that you could bring with you when you are attending the name day party of someone else! When not in use, put it in your home altar for safe keeping until the next day or year.

To assemble, print and cut out the template below and then use a pretty piece of string or ribbon to put it all together! Additionally, feel free to personalize one or more versions of the document (simply make a copy from the link here to edit in Canva) while assembling, adding in extra segments that represent symbols or colors of the saint that you are remembering (i.e. blue for Mary, red for martyrs, and/or the traditional symbols used to remember the four Evangelists), letters that spell out the person’s name, or symbols that remind you of the saint’s ethnic connections (i.e. fleurs-de-lys for a French saint, a clover or celtic Cross for an Irish saint, or a black eagle for a German saint). We promise that this is an easy, fun, and personalized way to help you commemorate the name days in your household!