figlet(1)
Display large ASCII art text banners in the terminal.
Synopsis
figlet [OPTION]... [TEXT]...Description
figlet converts text into large ASCII art letters using pre-defined font files. It reads input from the command line or standard input and outputs a large stylized representation using standard keyboard characters. This is commonly used for creating decorative headers, banners, and visual separators in shell scripts and terminal displays.
The command supports multiple fonts, layout options, and text justification. If no text is provided on the command line, figlet reads from standard input until EOF.
Common options
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
-f FONT | Select a specific font file to use for rendering |
-l | Left-align text (default is left-aligned) |
-c | Center-align the output text |
-r | Right-align the output text |
-j | Justify text to fill the full width |
-w WIDTH | Set the output width; default is 80 columns |
-p | Pipe each line through fmt, useful for fitting narrow widths |
-D | Print debugging information showing character codes |
-F | Use fonts from the figlet database |
-v | Print version information |
Examples
Display 'Hello World' in large ASCII art using the default font
figlet Hello WorldDisplay 'Welcome' using the 'banner' font style
figlet -f banner WelcomeDisplay centered ASCII art text
figlet -c ImportantPipe text to figlet from standard input
echo 'Linux' | figletRender text with a width limit of 40 columns and pipe formatting
figlet -w 40 -p NarrowDisplay 'SUCCESS' in the italic 'slant' font
figlet -f slant SUCCESSRight-align text with a wider output width of 100 columns
figlet -r -w 100 'Right Aligned'List all available figlet fonts on the system
ls /usr/share/figlet/