diff --git a/gga_init.py b/gga_init.py
index bd1beb4e7ebed69a7945fb0e8ed58a4545bf3483..f9e01d61a26e349ff6908839408aeea8bcc4e23a 100755
--- a/gga_init.py
+++ b/gga_init.py
@@ -62,11 +62,10 @@ class DeploySpeciesStack(speciesData.SpeciesData):
         # use the default banner instead
         if "banner_path" in self.config.keys():
             if not config["banner_path"] == "" and os.path.isfile(os.path.abspath(config["banner_path"])):
-                banner_dest_path = os.path.abspath("./banner.png")
-                logging.info("Custom banner path: %s" % self.config["banner_path"])
-                # if os.path.samefile(os.path.abspath(config["banner_path"]), banner_dest_path):
-                    # shutil.copy(os.path.abspath(self.config["banner_path"]), banner_dest_path)
-                shutil.copy(os.path.abspath(self.config["banner_path"]), banner_dest_path)
+                banner_dest_path = os.path.join(self.species_dir, os.path.abspath("banner.png"))
+                if not os.path.samefile(os.path.abspath(config["banner_path"]),banner_dest_path):
+                    os.symlink(os.path.abspath(self.config["banner_path"]), banner_dest_path)
+                    logging.info("Custom banner added: symlink from %s" % self.config["banner_path"])
             else:
                 logging.debug("Using default banner for Tripal pages")
                 self.config.pop("banner_path", None)