The Origin of Cards

Legend suggests that people played cards even before paper was ever invented. While the exact origin of card playing is unknown, there has been some evidence of at least a form of card playing having taken place in ancient Egypt, India, and China.
Playing cards

One theory tells that the Crusaders brought dice and cards back to Europe with them in the 14th century. It wasn’t long after, though, that the church claimed the devices were inventions of evil. Gutenberg, made famous for his printed Bible, also printed playing cards in the same year he printed the Bible, in 1440. Gutenberg’s deck of cards was called Tarot cards, which is from where modern-day playing cards developed.

The four suits in the deck are said to have represented the four feudal classes of society. The noble class was symbolized with swords that resembled Spanish espadas, the modern-day suit of spades. The merchant class was represented by coins, which were square-shaped and when turned sideways, they resembled a diamond; thus, the suit of diamonds. The serfs were portrayed by the club, which was not always clover-shaped. Finally, the church was represented as well, in the likes of the Holy Grail, which is the original suit of hearts.

Gutenberg’s deck had 22 trumps and each of the four suits had 14 cards (ten numbered cards, a king, queen, knight, and jester). The trumps had been dropped by 1500, though the word “trump” still refers to the five highest cards of a suit, in some games. Also, the joker (jester) is still also used in some modern-day card games.
Cake Poker

Face cards, originally, were actually created in the likeness of real people, and you can find small traces of these people in the drawings in current-day decks. The king of hearts was modeled after Charlemagne, while the king of spades represented King David, the Hebrew King. Julius Caesar was the face of the King of Diamonds, and Alexander the Great was the king of clubs.

The queens were also likened after historic heros, like Helon of Troy (queen of hearts), Palas Athena (queen of spades), and the biblical figure, Rachel (queen of diamonds). Throughout the evolution of the deck, also represented were Joan of Arc and Elisabeth I. The knights, which eventually morphed into jacks, were shown as Sir Lancelot (clubs), Charlemagne’s nephew, Roland (diamonds), Hodgier Le Danois (spades), and Etienne de Vignoles (hearts).

The deck of cards as we know it today, however, was brought to America by none other than Christopher Columbus.

see also origin of Texas Holdem