I could do with some clarity - having played a few years ago and now returning with a new group, I find myself confused.
The wiki says Banners can benefit from Magical Standards. But on investigation this no longer seems true? The pages about the Magical Standards now seem to say only the one person who holds them benefits from them?
What are Banners for then? Just adding people to rituals?
Do Magical Standards ever get used these days then? They seem rather expensive?
Most of the old magical standards never really worked well in practice, so they got turned into individual super-buff items instead.
The only one with a group effect is the Mercenary Banner.
Yeah banners are just for mercs and rituals.
And yeah, magic standards are… I guess conspicuous luxury items? Ive only spotted the free one actually on a battlefield.
Pretty much. The 2-month one, the +3 Hero Point one and the “Stay With Me 2 people at once” ones are all pretty good for the “support standard bearer” role of “I have heavy armour and More Hero Points Than That.”
The problem is that for the price of the other items, you may as well give your standard bearer 2 expensive magical items instead, and still have change to buy a Banner of the Bold. Especially for the per-day ones as they don’t recharge but hero points do.
If the big standards were “gain 5 limb repairs per Skirmish/Battle” or could be recharged with some group roleplay outside of a conflict zone, they would be good. The problem is that even if you’re using them every day, you may as well give the banner bearer a giant sack of potions or mana instead. They’ll get more uses per year overall and you can give them a Banner of the Bold on top.
Thank you, that makes sense.
Are there still items which benefit all members of a sect or coven, or have they also been phased out now?
Oh and is there any reason to join a banner other than to get the benefit of rituals?
The sect and coven items are generally good, albeit specific. I was always confused by the two stay with me standard, you need more hands! 
The Covenstones that let you use resources instead of mana can be good if you have a cheap source of that resource, the ones that let you do more rituals are essential if you want to do more rituals, there is one to combine two covens that can be essential to big rituals too.
The Sect items are mostly RP focused, but boosting ceremonies can be handy, as can hiding your aura 
As mentioned, no reason to be in a banner outside of rituals really.
Covenstones are pretty common, sect items are rare. Covens in general are the mechanical group type which has the most practical effect, so you see it most frequently.
Thanks all.
Seems a shame really. The Banner mechanic has so much potential for cool role play, and is so thematic!
I have just been reminded that your banner does appear on the Roll of honour (Linked below) so that definitely has some potential uses if you have military units!