Some American soldiers had their helmets marked with the spade, as playing cards had developed a reputation for bringing good luck. It quickly became one of the more ‘iconic’ cards along with the face cards, and seemingly by random chance its association with the military resurged with practical use in the Second World War. In particular, the aforementioned Ace of Spades was unique - the only card which had a special print, not by choice but by law. This connection would later cement itself in 17th century Britain where, under the reign of James I, the Ace of Spades in a pack of playing cards was required to display the insignia of a member of a noble house, and later the logo of the manufacturer.Īs the French suits cemented themselves into modern society as a pastime and industrialisation brought playing cards to working class bars, so too did the popularity and notoriety of the suits. This association with the older suit of Swords meant that the suit of Spades was also associated with nobility and military. The modern symbol for the Spade, “♠”, came from the French iteration of the Sword suit, which represented the head of a pike.

The suit of swords then came to be represented in the German-speaking world during the 15th century as Shields, and in the French-speaking world as Pikes, also known as Spades. The Latin suits, which came to be the modern French suits, were based on a mixture of currencies (Cups and Coins), and weaponry which represented the nobility and the military (Clubs and Swords). The notion of a playing card game with suits is said to have come about around the 14th century as a “Saracen’s game”. Just how did this ubiquitous symbol from a pack of playing cards make its way into popular culture? For example, the “♠” symbol – also known as the spade or pike - requires context to understand its meaning.

However, there are some symbols that seem to have an ambiguous meaning with multiple interpretations.

In modern society, signage throughout the world is littered with easily recognisable symbols that represent clear purposes - the “☢” symbol represents radioactivity, and the “☣” symbol unequivocally represents biohazards, both without any need for context.

Poker card spade