In America, the English pattern was copied onto wider cards. During the 19th century, the English pattern spread all over the world and is now used almost everywhere, even in countries where traditional patterns and other suits are popular. The figures took more space in the cards and many details were distorted." Īll early cards of this type were single-headed, but around 1860, the double-headed cards, universally used on modern decks, appeared. The English pattern evolved, in the process losing "some of its Rouen flavour and elegance and became more and more stylised. These were based on the Rouen pattern, but unlike the traditional French cards, they dropped the names on the court cards. But Britain only started manufacturing its own cards towards the end of the 16th century, when card production began in London. The earliest cards of the English pattern date to around 1516.
The English pattern pack originated in Britain which was importing French playing cards from Rouen and Antwerp by 1480. In addition, tarot cards are required for games such as French tarot (78 cards), which is widely played in France, and the Tarock family of games (42 or 54 cards) played in countries like Austria and Hungary. For example, 40- or 48-card Italian-suited packs are common in Italy 40- and 48-card Spanish-suited packs on the Iberian peninsula and 36-card German-suited packs are very common in Bavaria and Austria. Germany uses A, K, D and B ( Ass, König, Dame and Bube) Russia uses T, K, D and B ( Tuz, Korol, Dama and Valet) Sweden uses E, K, D and Kn ( Ess, Kung, Dam and Knekt) and France uses 1, R, D, V (1, Roi, Dame, and Valet).Īlthough French-suited, 52-card packs are the most common playing cards used internationally, there are many countries or regions where the traditional pack size is only 36 (Russia, Bavaria) or 32 (north and central Germany, Austria) or where regional cards with smaller packs are preferred for many games. In English countries they are lettered A, K, Q and J for Ace, King, Queen and Jack. For the court cards, this comprises the initial letter or letters from the name of that card. Modern playing cards carry index labels on opposite corners or in all four corners to facilitate identifying the cards when they overlap and so that they appear identical for players on opposite sides. There are also numerous others such as the Berlin pattern, Nordic pattern, Dondorf Rhineland pattern (pictured right) and the variants of the European pattern. The second most common is the Belgian-Genoese pattern, which was designed in France for export and spread to Spain, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans and much of North Africa and the Middle East. The most popular standard pattern of the French deck is the English pattern (pictured above), sometimes referred to as the International pattern or Anglo-American pattern.
Example set of 52 playing cards 13 of each suit: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades Anywhere from one to six (most often two or three since the mid-20th century) Jokers, often distinguishable with one being more colourful than the other, are added to commercial decks, as some card games require these extra cards. Each suit includes an Ace, a King, Queen and Jack, each depicted alongside a symbol of its suit and numerals or pip cards from the Deuce (Two) to the Ten, with each card depicting that many symbols ( pips) of its suit. A standard 52-card deck comprises 13 ranks in each of the four French suits: clubs ( ♣), diamonds ( ♦), hearts ( ♥) and spades ( ♠), with reversible (double-headed) court cards (face cards).