Card Suits and Symbolism – Briefly Explained

Card suits and symbolism games have been around for ages now in many of the cultures. While some take credit for their invention, some others humbly accept that they improvised the borrowed game. There are many varieties of card games like blackjack, rummy, poker, baccarat and such. Although these varieties of games are played using the same deck of 52 cards, the rules are different for each game.

Speaking of the 52 cards of the deck, have you ever looked at them carefully and wondered how different cards came with different symbols and what they could possibly mean? Be assured that those card suits and symbolism presented by them are not at all random and each symbol has its own significance. Yes, not just King or Queen Cards are the ones with importance, even the symbols of Hearts, Spades, Clubs and such others have stories to tell. This is because the card suits and symbolism are not just meant to be used for games but also present certain astrological aspects too like tarot reading, etc. So all the card suits and symbolism exhibited by them mean something and this article will help to uncover all those mysteries. Read on to find all the details on the card suits and symbolism of them.

Cards of Royals and Jack

The cards of King and Queen are the ones that are considered royal. The cards of royals along with jack represent different historical figures. The picture is of different King or Queen of different times presented on the four different suits of the 52 card deck. These include: the King of Clubs is the King of Macedonia- Alexander; the King of Hearts is King of France- Charlemagne, the King of Spades is King of Israel- David and finally the King of Diamonds represents Roman Caesar- Augustus.  

In the case of Queen, there are various interpretations presented by different sources. However, the most accepted ones is that of the French card suit which presents four women on the Queen’s cards from the historical and mythological period. These include: the Queen of Hearts is represented by Judith who is a Biblical figure; the Queen of Diamonds is Rachel, another Biblical figure; the Queen of Spades is depicted by Pallas which happen to be another name for the goddess Athena; and the Queen of Clubs is Arginine which is an anagram for ‘Regina’ meaning ‘Queen’ in Latin.

In case of Jacks too, the French pattern of cards suits and symbolism of them will be considered here for an explanation. For the Jack of Spades, the figure of Ogier the Dane who was the knight of Charlemagne is considered; for the Jack of Hearts, a French warrior- La Hire; for the Jack of Diamonds, mythological hero of Iliad- Hector; and for Jack of Clubs- Lancelot or Judas Maccabeus are considered.

Four Card Suits and Symbolism They Present

While many have at least have some knowledge of the Kings and Queen card suits and symbolism they show, very few know exactly what other card symbols like Hearts, Clubs, Spades and Diamonds mean. So here is their explanation:

The heart symbol represents the spring season. In terms of human life, this is considered as the ‘childhood’ phase. Also, in tarot card readings, this card symbolizes love, knowledge, fertility and joy. The clubs signifies the summer season. The phase of ‘youth’ is what clubs represents in human life. The Diamond, on the other hand, symbolises an autumn or fall season. The ‘growing’ stage of human life is exhibited by this symbol where they are struggling with finding a job, building their careers, getting responsible and such. Spades card represent the winter season. It is held to be the ‘old age’ stage of human life where a person is filled with wisdom, transformation and such.

Card suits and symbolism they present have another aspect. The 52 cards of a deck signify the total number of weeks in a year. The 13 cards of any one suit represent 13 lunar months. One more mind-blowing feature of these cards is that they total to a 365 number which represents 365 days of a non-leap year.