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Suitmarks of playing cards Suitmarks were first used on Italian and Spanish decks of playing cards. Soon after, nature-oriented suitmarks adorned German and Swiss decks. Simple stencil designs reduced the cost of producing playing cards in France, and the French designs were lightly modified in England to produce the modern, or international, suitmarks. Playing cards with national suitmarks are still common in many countries, particularly for use in certain traditional card games, but all international competitions use the international suitmarks.
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Suitmarks of playing cards Suitmarks were first used on Italian and Spanish decks of playing cards. Soon after, nature-oriented suitmarks adorned German and Swiss decks. Simple stencil designs reduced the cost of producing playing cards in France, and the French designs were lightly modified in England to produce the modern, or international, suitmarks. Playing cards with national suitmarks are still common in many countries, particularly for use in certain traditional card games, but all international competitions use the international suitmarks.
Suitmarks of playing cards

Suitmarks were first used on Italian and Spanish decks of playing cards. Soon after, nature-oriented suitmarks adorned German and Swiss decks. Simple stencil designs reduced the cost of producing playing cards in France, and the French designs were lightly modified in England to produce the modern, or international, suitmarks. Playing cards with national suitmarks are still common in many countries, particularly for use in certain traditional card games, but all international competitions use the international suitmarks.

In card games, a "suit" refers to one of the four categories of playing cards: spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds. These suits are part of a standard 52-card deck, where each suit contains cards ranked from Ace (high or low) down to 2. The word "suit" itself has a history connected to "following," originating from a Latin word meaning to follow. This led to meanings related to attendance at court, followers, and even romantic pursuit.12

Over time, "suit" also came to mean a set of matching items, which extended to sets of clothing and, importantly, the four suits in a deck of cards. In some card games, like bridge, a "side suit" is any suit that is not the trump suit. Tarot decks, which originated in Italy in the 1430s, also include suits, typically wands, cups, swords, and coins, in addition to a set of illustrated cards called the major arcana.234

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. poker - Cards
  2. tarot
  3. Following 'Suit' from the Court to the Closet
  4. side suit

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