Figlet: Create ASCII Text Banners from Your Terminal

Looking to add some character to your terminal? Want to create cool-looking banners using just text? If yes, then Figlet is the perfect little tool for you. It's a classic terminal application that turns ordinary text into big, bold ASCII art banners—ideal for scripts, Conky setups, or just having fun.

What is Figlet?

Figlet (short for "Frank, Ian and Glenn’s LETters") is a lightweight command-line tool that generates large letters out of ordinary text using ASCII characters. It has been around since the early days of Unix and is still popular today among Linux users who enjoy a touch of retro flair.

How to Install

• Debian/Ubuntu:
  

  sudo apt install figlet

• Arch/Manjaro:
  

  sudo pacman -S figlet

• Fedora:
  

  sudo dnf install figlet

• openSUSE:
  

  sudo zypper install figlet

• Void Linux:
  

  sudo xbps-install -S figlet

Basic Usage

To generate text banners, just type:

figlet Hello World

It will output:

 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _ 
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

List Available Fonts

To see all fonts installed:

figlet -I2

Or to try a specific font:

figlet -f slant Hello

You can find more fonts in the directory (usually /usr/share/figlet), or download extras from online font collections (e.g., figlet.org/fontdb).

Colorful Output with lolcat

Want rainbow-colored banners? Combine Figlet with lolcat:

figlet Hello World | lolcat

This will pipe the ASCII output into lolcat for beautiful colored text. Perfect for fun scripts or showing off.

Combo Tip: Use with ANSI Colors

If you’re not using lolcat, you can manually wrap your figlet output in ANSI color codes using echo -e and escape sequences. However, lolcat is much easier and stylish for most users.

Useful Parameters

Option	Description
-f	Select font (e.g., figlet -f slant)
-c	Center the output
-w	Set output width (e.g., -w 80)
-d	Set font directory
-l	Left-align text (default)
-r	Right-align text

How to Remove

To uninstall Figlet:

• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt remove figlet
• Arch/Manjaro: sudo pacman -R figlet

Use Cases

• Creating fun terminal banners or greetings
• Custom messages in startup scripts
• Adding ASCII flair to Conky or tmux
• Displaying headlines in shell-based dashboards

Figlet is a small but delightful utility. It's lightweight, fun, and adds a retro touch to your terminal. I often use it in startup messages or to decorate bash scripts. Combined with lolcat, it turns any text into eye candy.

Discover more tools: Neofetch: Show Off Your Linux System