Our casino playing cards haven’t always been Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs. So, Where Do Playing Card Suits Come From?
Let’s take a look.
When Did We Start Using Playing Cards?
As early as 900 A.D, the Chinese used painted leaves which are the roots of today’s playing cards. These leaves later evolved into tiles for Mahjong. Finally, however, the Chinese used actual playing cards in the 1200s.
It is believed that the Chinese were the first to use suited cards, which represented money. Their suits were coins, strings of coins, myriads of strings, and tens of myriads.
Toby Bochan, Liveaboutdotcom
Several modifications by European cultures brought us to the cards and suits we use today.
Related Post – Where The Word Casino Came From
Different Countries, Different Symbolism
Latin Suits symbolized cups, coins, clubs, and swords. The English retained the Italian word for the sword – spade. In the 15th century, the Germans used hearts, bells, acorns, and leaves.
Where Do Playing Card Suits Come From? England Adds the Final Touch
The French standardized the four suits in a 52-card deck. However, the English decided upon hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. The French had used – coeurs (hearts), piques (pikes or spades), carreaux (diamond-shaped tiles), and trefles (clovers). Charles Goodall and Sons in 19th century England gave us the standard designs seen today.
5 Quick Facts – Where Do Playing Card Suits Come From?
Assigning identities to the face cards is a myth. During the 15th century, the French assigned face cards to Kings, Queens, and Jacks representing the four great empires of Jews, Greeks, Franks, and Romans. Evidently, after the 16th century, other countries abandoned this practice.
What are “pips?” – Markings in the center of a numbered playing card indicating the card’s suit and number value.
The United States is responsible for adding the Jokers. The game of euchre influenced the Joker. Popular in the mid-19th century, it refers to the highest trump card.
Casino playing cards are usually 100% plastic for two main reasons: 1) they last much longer than paper cards, and 2) they are more challenging to write on, making it hard for players to try and cheat.
An interesting tidbit – there are 52 cards in a standard deck. There are also 52 weeks in a year. If you add all the symbols in a deck of cards, it equals the same number of days in a year = 365.
Binbin