During the last decade, numerous chromosome banding techniques based on FISH have been developed for the human and for the murine genomes. Here we review FISH banding techniques, which were recently defined as "any kind of FISH technique which provides the ability to characterize simultaneously several chromosomal subregions smaller than a chromosome arm." Standard chromosome banding techniques like GTG lead to a protein-related black-and-white banding pattern. FISH banding techniques are DNA-specific, more colorful, and thus more informative. FISH banding methods are successfully applied in research in evolutionary and radiation biology, as well as in studies on nuclear architecture. Moreover, their suitability for diagnostic purposes has been proven in prenatal, postnatal and tumor cytogenetics, indicating that they are important tools with the potential to partly replace conventional banding techniques in the future.