Huzzah! I have been looking forward to making a few banner bearers for the Napoleanics!
In the end, I printed the banners so that they would be the correct size, and not be shiny! The banners that came in the box were very stiff on shiny stock. I printed them on a more flexible stock, so that they could be shaped a bit.
I used weathering powders to shade it, and painted around the edges to hide any cut lines, etc.