Card games such as teen patti, rummy, poker, and blackjack have been an integral part of the Indian culture for ages. Many of these card games have their origins in India and are still popularly played in the country during festivals and other occasions.
Most card game enthusiasts would have a deck of cards in possession, but many wouldn’t know the history, card symbolism, or astrological meaning of the cards. The playing cards symbols and what the cards represent is as exciting as playing card games. So, here’s an interesting read on card suits, what each of the cards represents and the card symbolism.
Playing Cards Symbolism
A playing card is a specifically prepared card stock. The most common type of playing cards is the French-suited playing cards that are used in popular card games like poker and rummy.
The french-suited playing cards are rectangular-shaped cards of equal size and shape, making it easy to hold the cards in hand. The front side of each card is marked uniquely to identify each card easily. The backside of all the playing cards in a deck bear the same pattern so that they are unidentifiable by the opponents. The corners of the cards are rounded to avoid wear and tear.
History of Playing Card Suits & Card Symbols Name
While the exact origin of the playing cards is not known, many believe that the cards originated from the East and spread through the West. According to a few pieces of evidence, card games were quite prevalent in China during the 19th century. Around the same time, the tarot card deck was developed by the French for use in prayer and divination, and the British invented their first-ever recreational card game.
The card symbols and card suits have evolved through the years. In the early years, the cards were labelled and pips of sorcerers and goblets, and with time they evolved into printed forms of spades, diamonds, hearts, and clubs symbols. Today, card symbols are even used as designed logos for branding and marketing in companies.
In today’s times, a card deck consists of 52 cards and a printed joker. The 52 cards are further divided into four suits – Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. The four card suits contain 13 cards each, and each card is different from all cards in the deck. Each of the four suits consists of three face cards, an Ace, and numbered cards from 2 to 10. The face cards were popular for centuries in Europe. The Ace card ranks above all the numbered cards and face cards in most games. The ancient card symbolism reveals a lot about the culture and historical aspects of the countries where the cards were used to play games.
Card Suits – Playing Cards Symbols
Spades
Symbolized by ♠️, the Spades suit is considered the highest-ranking suit in games that give preference to the card suit. Spade symbolizes the winter season, and the symbol represents the water element. The suit symbolizes the acme of old age when humans gain knowledge, transformation, and acceptance.
Hearts
Symbolized by ♥️, the heart suit represents the season of spring. It also symbolizes the childhood stage of life and represents the fire element.
Diamonds
Symbolized by ♦️, the diamond suit represents the autumn or fall season. The suit implies the growing state of a person’s working career. A diamond card represents progress, ethics, stability, commitment, and the air element.
Clubs
Symbolized by ♣️, the club symbol represents the summer season and the earth element. The club suit in cards indicates youth, a phase when a person focuses on education, and recklessness.
52 Card Deck
A deck of cards contains 52 cards which represent the number of weeks in a year. Each suit contains 13 cards which represent the 13 lunar months. The numerical value of King, Queen, and Jack is 13, 12, and 11, respectively. The sum of the numerical value of all the cards, including the joker, is 365, which represents the number of days in a year.
Each card value in a deck of cards also represents a keyword depicting the personality of the card suit symbol. Here’s what each card value symbolizes:
- Ace – Desire
- 2 – Union
- 3 – Faith
- 4- Satisfaction
- 5 – Change
- 6 – Adjustments
- 7 – Victory
- 8 – Power
- 9 – New beginnings
- 10 – Success
Further, the court cards or the royal family cards – King, Queen, and Jack, symbolize historical card suits personalities as below:
- King of Spades – King of Israel, David
- King of Hearts – King of France, Charlemagne
- King of Diamonds – Roman Caesar, Augustus
- King of Clubs – King of Macedonia, Alexander
Card Suits Symbolism
The four card suits in a deck of cards, heart, diamond, spade, and club, represent the emblems of society and human energy. The club symbol represents strength and achievement, the heart symbol stands for the struggle to attain inner peace, the diamond symbol stands for business and wealth creation, and the spade symbol stands for warrior class and life.
The merchants in Europe imported the trade into the European cities in the 14th century. They traded symbols like cups, swords, coins, and batons. The card skill games caught the eye of the French Kingdom and England. The French added the Queen to the deck of cards. Later, they added King and Ace soon after the french revolution succeeded in toppling the King.
Here are the different symbols for the card suits:
| Spades | Hearts | Diamonds | Clubs |
| Swords Épées |
Cups, chalices Coupes |
Coins, money Dernières, pièces, soleilsdisks, pentacles |
Wands Bâtons, massues, gourdins staves, rods |
| German leaves | Swiss 6-lobe roses | German bells | German acorns |
| Water element | Fire element | Air element | Earth element |
| Nobles second estate | Clergy first estate | Merchants urban third estate | Farmers rural third estate |
Card Symbol Names FAQs
What are card suits called?
A deck of cards or a pack of cards contains four french suits. The card suits are called Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.
How many playing cards are there in a suit?
A deck of cards comprises 52 cards of four suits. Therefore, there are 13 cards of each suit, Ace through 2, in a 52-cards deck.
What do the four suits in playing cards represent?
The four suits in a deck of cards have a unique card symbolism. The Spades suit symbolizes the Military, the Hearts suit symbolizes the Church, the Diamonds suit symbolizes the Merchant Class, and the Clubs suit Symbolizes Agriculture. These were the four primary pillars of the Medieval Period economy.
What is the suit order in card games?
Most card games such as poker don’t follow a suit order, making all card suits equal. However, there are a few card games that follow suit order throughout the game, such as Bridge, or in certain situations, such as Seven Card Stud, where ties are broken by suit. In these games, the suit order followed from highest to lowest is Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs.
