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A ban (derived from banishment) is, generally, any decree that prohibits something.

Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act (equating it to a form of censorship or discrimination) and others see it as maintaining the "status quo". Bans in commerce are referred to as embargos.

A marriage ban is used to prevent certain categories of people from marrying each other. For much of the 1800s and 1900s there were bans on marriage between people of different races (interracial marriage) in the United States. However, the ban on interracial marriage was taken up by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1967 in the landmark civil rights case Loving vs. Virginia, in which the Court ruled Virginia's miscegenation law an unconstitutional violation of the fundamental right to marriage. This should not be confused with banns of marriage.

During the Apartheid régime in South Africa, the National Party government issued banning orders to individuals seen to be threats to its power — often black politicians or organisations — and acted as suppression orders. Individuals banned by the government could not communicate with more than one person at any time unless at home (thus removing them from partaking in political activities), travel to areas without government approval, or leave the country.

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (December 2007)

In internet forums and MMORPGs, the host sometimes has the power to ban players who do not follow the rules.

Banning (sometimes called 'blocking' or 'permabanning') is commonplace in internet culture. The banhammer is a metaphorical tool used in many of these games.

• Export restriction
• List of banned books
• List of banned films
• List of banned computer and video games
• Television ban
• Homo sacer and the sovereign state of exception
• Shunning
• Cherem, a ban pursuant to Jewish law
• Censure and Excommunication, which may result in a ban pursuant to Religious law