The History Behind the Design of the Suits in a Deck Of Cards Will Surprise You
A simple pack or deck of playing cards can be used for a great many things from a childish game of snap all the way up to high stakes poker in the bright lights of Las Vegas. They are not only used for games but have strong links to the occult and are a vitally important tool for magical tricks
The colours, suit names, designs and emblems have changed throughout the centuries as different cultures have improved them added their customs and claimed them as their own
The exact origin of playing cards is shrouded in speculation and the fog of time. However, most experts agree that they date back to China. Although some claim as far as the 9th Century this game was with leaves so it can’t really be the birth of playing cards. Others agree it started in China but in the late 1200's - honestly what is 600 odd years between friends?
Others suggest it is based on an even older Arabic game. For Centuries Arabic countries were very advanced and full of knowledge, many things originated in that area, things that we now take for granted. When you consider that the earliest version of cards games in Europe was known as "Moorish" or "Saracen" games, it would seem to support this.
Yet another theory argues that since the nomads brought fortune-telling cards with them from India card playing could be even older.
However since general opinion supports the version with Chinese history, that is what I will go with. It is believed that the original suits were made up of coins, strings of coins, myriads of strings & tens of myriads that were in use by the Chinese represented money. These were modified by the Mamluks of Egypt, and since trading with Europe was then picking up steam, the Egyptian merchants introduced the new game around the 1370s this is considered the start of the evolution into the familiar playing cards we know today.
In medieval Europe, everybody played cards, from the nobility of Kings and Dukes, Clerics, Friars, Noblewomen, prostitutes and prisoners. Often these games were accompanied by drinking, gambling, and a variety of other vices that attracted undesirables to them.
Card playing became so popular and disruptive that in 1377 in Paris an ordinance was passed which banned the playing of card games on workdays. Throughout Europe, similar bans were enacted, and preachers sought to stop people using "the Devils picture book", as they were convinced it leads to a life of evil.
The original European playing cards had four suits; Swords, Staves/Clubs, Cups/Chalice, and Coins/Money. Most scholars think that, despite there being no accurate records, card games from centuries ago the rules would be very similar to us today.
Back then playing cards were made by hand, which made them quite expensive and “elitist” in some circles, but they were still extremely popular. The idea of an easy, portable and endlessly amusing game caught on quickly in Europe, and with the invention of the printing press, large-scale production of cards made them even more accessible to all. Basically, playing cards were one of the very first “trending topics” of popular culture as we know it today.
Over the centuries, playing cards have had tens of thousands of different designs and variations regarding colours, suits &pips. At various points in history, playing cards were considered anywhere between bawdy and fine art - while being socially critical & informative. Playing cards reflect the cultures they came from, which helps explain the origin of the suits, as well as the face cards!
As mentioned, playing cards were an opportunity to reflect a bit of your culture, and possibly spread that information or art to other parts of the world. For example, playing cards were very popular for soldiers, as they were easy to carry and enabled universal rules for gambling. When those first Europeans came in contact with playing cards, they already had 4 suits, but these were adapted by different Countries to suit them better (pardon the terrible pun)
In Italy & Spain, they had suits of cups, coins, clubs, and swords. Instead of Swords the English kept the Italian word of "Spade" (and the Spanish word of Espadas).
In German-speaking Countries, the Latin suits were altered sometime around 1450, the Swiss-Germans playing card suits used to represent roses, bells, acorns, & shields. However, this was changed by Germans to hearts, bells, acorns, and leaves.
Despite the changes, however, the card suits still looked similar to each other.
The French suits that we now know are based on a variation of the Germanic ones. They retain the hearts, but rather than bells, they used "Carreaux" (which are tiles or diamonds). Interestingly there used to be a crescent suit before the French decided on diamonds. Acorns became "trèfles", for clovers or clubs. For leaves, they had "Piques" for pikes or spades. England imported French cards somewhere around 1480, but the English carried over their names for clubs and spades from the older Latin suits. In England the importation of foreign playing cards was banned in 1628, so they began to produce their own cards. The French Rouen designs of the face cards were reworked in the 19th century by Charles Goodall and Sons to give us the common designs seen today.
There have suggestions by some historians that suits in a deck were meant to represent the four classes of Medieval society. Cups/Chalices (modern hearts) may have represented the clergy; swords (spades) for the nobility or the military; coins (diamonds) for the merchants; and staves (clubs) for peasants. But the difference in pips from one deck to the next resists such pat categorisation. For example, Bells were used in early German “hunting cards.” These would have been a more fitting symbol of German nobility than spades because bells were often associated with hawks in falconry, usually a sport that was reserved for only the wealthiest of people. By contrast, Diamonds could have represented the Fench upper class, as paving stones used in the chancels of churches were diamond-shaped, and such stones of marked the graves of the aristocratic dead.
While pips were often changeable, courtesan cards—called “face cards” today—have mostly remained similar for centuries. In the British and French decks, for example, always feature the same four legendary kings: Charles, David, Caesar, and Alexander the Great. Queens, however, have not been given the same reverence.
Pallas, Judith, Rachel, and Argine have all ruled each of the four suits at one time or another, albeit with frequent interruptions. As the Spanish adopted playing cards, they used mounted knights or Caballeros instead of queens. The Germans excluded queens entirely, dividing face cards into könig's (king's), Obermann's (upper men), and Unterman's (lower men)—today’s Jacks (What we now call a jack was originally known as a knave. In 1864 this was changed most likely due to the confusion in the card abbreviations as the abbreviation for knave was Kn. which was deemed too similar to the K used for the king).
The Queen was reintroduced by the French; meanwhile the British were so fond of their Queen's they created the “British Rule,” a variation that changes the ranking of the king and queen if the ruling monarch of England is a female.
The ace was originally the lowest card, until the French Revolution. Then, after this, it was high as a tribute to the peasantry overthrowing the aristocracy. Now depending on the game, the ace can be counted as high or low.
You might also have spotted the ace of spades looks different to the rest of the pack. With the success of playing cards, the English Government decided to tax on one playing card; the ace of spades. Until 1765 it used to be a standard card showing just a simple pip until the tax office started to print them with a design showing that the due tax had indeed been paid. This official design was the most popular of the decorative motifs used by card designers after 1862. Cardmakers were not allowed to make their own ace of spades. The forging of an ace was a capital offence. Now days forged aces can be found in private collections and in museums. They are a highly-sought collector’s item.
The king of hearts, which is based on Charlamange, offers another curiosity: It is the only king without a moustache, and he appears to be killing himself using a sword to the head. The explanation for the “suicide-king” is actually far less dramatic. As printing needed rapid reproduction of decks, the integrity of the original artwork declined. When printing blocks wore out, card makers would create new sets by copying either the blocks or the cards. This process duplicated previous errors. Eventually, the edge of the king’s sword disappeared from view.
High taxes and hand craftsmanship made every deck of playing cards an investment. As such, cards became a visual feast for the eye. Fanciful, highly specialised decks offered artists a chance to design collectable artwork. Playing-card manufacturers started to produce decks that were meant for other uses beyond the simple use of card-playing, including instructions, for propaganda, and even advertising. As they were so sought after, cards were often repurposed: as invitations, entrance tickets, obituary notices, wedding announcements, musical scores, invoices and even notes between lovers or from abandoned babies mothers.
In this way, the humble playing card had sometimes become a historical document of some importance, in that it can offer both amateur collectors and scholars a window into the past.
While collectors favoured ornate and intricate designs, gamblers insisted on standardised, symmetrical card prints, because any variety or gimmickry could distract from the game. For nearly 500 years, the reverse of cards
This innovation offered advantages in that plain backs could easily pick up smudges, which would “mark” the cards thus making them useless to gamblers (unless they were the ones doing the marking). By contrast, pattern-backed cards would withstand wear and tear without betraying the cardholder’s secrets.
Years later corner indices (numbers and letters) were added, which quickly told the cardholder the numerical value of the card and which suit. This simple innovation was revolutionary: It allowed players to fan their cards held in one hand tightly. A quick glance would give a skilled gambler a tally of his holdings, so that he can decide to bid, fold or raise the ante, all the while holding the most resolute of poker faces.
Standard decks usually contain two “wild” cards, each showing a traditional court jester, these can be used to trump any regular card. American decks first printed jokers in 1867, with British card makers following by 1880. However, very few games use them. Maybe this is why the only card that lacks a standard,
The modern standard 52-card deck retains the four original French suits from centuries ago: diamonds (♦), hearts (♥), clubs (♣) & spades (♠). These graphic symbols, or “pips,” have a minimal resemblance to the items they represent, but they were much easier to reproduce than the lavish motifs. Traditionally, pips were highly variable, allowing for different sets of symbols that were rooted in geography & culture. From goblets and sorcerers to stars and birds, pips had symbolic meanings, similar to the trump cards of much older tarot decks. However, unlike tarot, pips were surely meant as a diversion rather than divination. Even so, the cards preserved much of the 16th-century iconography that had fascinated Europe: astronomy, alchemy, mysticism, and history.
There are many comparisons between playing cards and the calendar. People believe there are several representations of the seasons, and of measurements in time. Below are some of the most common.
There are 12
As the four suits consist of 13 cards each. They are thought to represent the four seasons of the year, which have 13 weeks each. The 13 cards per suit represent the number of lunar months in a year. With 365 pips in the deck (assuming you only count one of the jokers) has the same amount of days in the year - some suggest the second joker represents the leap year of 366 days.
The representation of the days of the year and the corresponding 365 pips is very much disputed as jokers were added to the playing card deck much later. The argument is this:
Each suit consists of 13 cards and is said to represent the 13 months of the lunar year. A lunar month contains 28 days. According to the positivist calendar, the year is comprised of 13 months of 28 days (13×28=364).
Along the same lines, people argue that the total value of 364 for all cards in the deck is due to the
So next time you are playing with a deck of cards, whether at Grandma's house, with the kids on a rainy caravan holiday or going all-in on the Vegas tables think about all the history that is represented in the hand you have been dealt.
