The Rarest Fortnite Banners and How Players Got Them
The rarest Fortnite banners are the ones almost nobody could ever earn: the Epic Games banner (staff only), the Alpha Tester banners from the 2015 to 2016 tests, the Paragon banner, the higher Founder’s Pack banners, and old event banners like Dungeons Champion. None of them can be unlocked today, and none were ever sold in the Item Shop.
How do we decide what’s rare? Epic doesn’t publish ownership numbers, so nobody can rank banners by exact count, and lists that claim to are guessing. We sorted them by how small the group of eligible players was and whether there’s any way left to get them, using the unlock conditions listed in the Fortnite Wiki banner icon tables.
The rarest Fortnite banners at a glance
| Banner | How players got it | Still obtainable? |
|---|---|---|
| Epic Games | Work at Epic Games | Only for Epic staff |
| Alpha Tester 1 to 11 | Take part in 1 to 11 Alpha Tests | No |
| Paragon | Play Paragon, Epic’s MOBA | No, Paragon shut down in 2018 |
| Founder’s Pack (Deluxe and higher) | Buy a higher Save the World Founder’s Pack | No, packs ended June 29, 2020 |
| Dungeons Champion | Finish every Dungeon at Power Level 140 in Save the World | No |
| Frostnite winter banners | Survive 30 minutes in weekly Frostnite challenges, winter 2018 | No |
| Deadpool | Deadpool’s Weekly Challenges, Chapter 2 Season 2 | No |
| Lexa and Mudhorn | Epic Quests in Chapter 2 Season 5 | No |
Which Fortnite banner is the rarest?
The Epic Games banner. Its unlock condition on the wiki is simply “Work at Epic Games,” so the pool is the company’s own staff. You’ll basically never see it in a public lobby.
Among banners regular players could earn, Alpha Tester 11 is the toughest. There are eleven Alpha Tester banners, one for each number of Alpha Tests a player joined, and the eleventh needed all eleven tests. Those tests ran long before Battle Royale existed (the default Dance Moves emote dates back to Online Test 2 in March 2015, for scale).
Why is the Paragon banner rare?
Because you had to play a different game. Paragon was Epic’s own MOBA (a third-person one, released in early access in 2016), and the Fortnite banner went to anyone who played it. Epic shut Paragon down in April 2018. Door closed. Thing is, plenty of Fortnite players had never heard of Paragon even back then.
Rare Fortnite banners from Founder’s Packs
Founder’s Packs gave access to Save the World during early access, and each edition came with banners. Epic discontinued them on June 29, 2020 with Update v13.20, when Save the World left early access; existing owners got a free upgrade to the next edition (Ultimate owners got 8,000 V-Bucks instead). The wiki is careful with its wording here. Standard Edition banners “can be obtained,” while the Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Ultimate sets “could have been obtained,” so the higher editions are the rare ones. Long story short, a banner from the Ultimate set means that account bought into Save the World years ago.
Rarest Fortnite banners from Save the World events
Save the World gave out some of the hardest banners in the game. Dungeons Champion (an Uncommon icon, despite how hard it was) required clearing every Dungeon at Power Level 140, which is late-game content even for people who play the mode daily.
The winter 2018 Frostnite banners worked differently. Each week of the Frozen Fjords season had its own Frostnite challenge, and surviving 30 minutes in it unlocked one banner: Bear Trap in week 1, Icicle Cluster, Snowman in Danger, Castle Tower, Sad Gingerbread Man, Cooker, and Buried Snowman for weeks 7 and 8. Miss a week and that banner was gone (no reruns).
Rare, but not glamorous.
Battle Royale banners you can’t get anymore
Most Battle Royale banners came from Battle Passes or seasonal challenges, so technically all of them are retired once the season ends. A few stand out:
- Deadpool, from Deadpool’s Weekly Challenges in Chapter 2 Season 2.
- Lexa required completing 59 Epic Quests in Chapter 2 Season 5, a lot more grinding than a normal tier unlock.
- Mudhorn, a Star Wars Series banner, took 11 Epic Quests in that same season.
- Crystal Llama sat at tier 86 of the Season 8 Battle Pass in Chapter 1.
Are they rare in the strict sense? Not really, since millions of people played those seasons. But nobody who started after them can get one, and in practice that’s what most players mean by rare.
Can you still get rare Fortnite banners?
Not the old ones, to be fair. Banners aren’t sold in the Item Shop, and Epic doesn’t re-release past challenge or Founder’s rewards. New banners still arrive with every season through quests and passes, so today’s season will produce its own retired banners eventually.
If you collect old cosmetics, banners are a small part of it. The same logic applies to our lists of rare Fortnite emotes and the rarest skins, and the Fortnite season timeline tells you exactly when each pass ran. For the rarest Fortnite banners, the honest summary is short: if you weren’t there, you can’t get them.
FAQ
What is the rarest banner in Fortnite?
The Epic Games banner, which the Fortnite Wiki lists as unlocked by working at Epic Games. Among player-earned banners, Alpha Tester 11, which required taking part in 11 Alpha Tests, is the hardest.
Can you buy banners in the Fortnite Item Shop?
No. Banners come from Battle Passes, quests, events and packs such as the Founder’s Packs, not from the Item Shop.
How did you get the Paragon banner?
By playing Paragon, Epic’s MOBA. Paragon shut down in April 2018, so the banner can no longer be earned.
Are Founder’s Pack banners still available?
No. Founder’s Packs were discontinued on June 29, 2020 with Update v13.20, when Save the World left early access.
How did you get the Dungeons Champion banner?
By completing every Dungeon on Power Level 140 in Save the World.
Will Epic bring back old banners?
There is no sign of it. Past challenge, Founder’s and event banners have not been re-released, and banners are not sold in the Item Shop.
