In some versions of UNIX and Linux there is a banner command (usually in /usr/bin/banner) that prints great output like following:

1. To display wtuto on the screen, type following command:

[root@wtuto ~]# banner wtuto

#     #  #######  #     #  #######  #######
#  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
 ## ##      #      #####      #     #######

2. If you type two words (Hi Welcome), banner command will display it in two lines:

[root@wtuto ~]# banner Hi Welcome

#     #  ###
#     #   #
#     #   #
#######   #
#     #   #
#     #   #
#     #  ###


#     #  #######  #         #####   #######  #     #  #######
#  #  #  #        #        #     #  #     #  ##   ##  #
#  #  #  #        #        #        #     #  # # # #  #
#  #  #  #####    #        #        #     #  #  #  #  #####
#  #  #  #        #        #        #     #  #     #  #
#  #  #  #        #        #     #  #     #  #     #  #
 ## ##   #######  #######   #####   #######  #     #  #######

3. To display two words (HI WTUTO), enclose it with ("), such as in following example:

[root@wtuto ~]# banner "HI WTUTO"

#     #  ###        #     #  #######  #     #  #######  #######
#     #   #         #  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#     #   #         #  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#######   #         #  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#     #   #         #  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#     #   #         #  #  #     #     #     #     #     #     #
#     #  ###         ## ##      #      #####      #     #######

Note: banner command is not by default installed. To install it simply run:

[root@wtuto ~]# yum -y install banner
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * base: centos.aol.in
 * epel: ftp.riken.jp
 * extras: centos.aol.in
 * rpmforge: ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de
 * updates: centos.aol.in
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
The program yum-complete-transaction is found in the yum-utils package.
--> Running transaction check
---> Package banner.i386 0:1.3.2-1.el5 set to be updated
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

========================================================================
 Package         Arch          Version              Repository     Size
========================================================================
Installing:
 banner          i386          1.3.2-1.el5          epel           16 k

Transaction Summary
========================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)
Upgrade       0 Package(s)

Total download size: 16 k
Downloading Packages:
banner-1.3.2-1.el5.i386.rpm                      |  16 kB     00:00
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing     : banner                                           1/1

Installed:
  banner.i386 0:1.3.2-1.el5

Complete!
[root@wtuto ~]#

TIPS: You can use banner command in script to diplay large message.

Pre-Login Message:

---

To display or change Pre-Login Message (like following message in green) in virtual console, You can modify /etc/issue file.

CentOS release 5.7 (Final)
Kernel 2.6.18-274.12.1.el5 on an i686

wtuto login:

To display "Welcome to Wtuto" in the first line and current day (use \d), current time (user \t) in the second line. Edit /etc/issue file to type following message in green.

[root@wtuto ~]# vi /etc/issue
Welcome to Wtuto
\d, \t

See man mingetty to view the list of options (like \d, \t ) that you can issue in /etc/issue file.