Swiss-Suited Playing Cards: A Photographic Archive
A Gallery of Historical and Modern Decks Featuring Suit Variations and Artistic Interpretations
SWISS-SUITED PLAYING CARDS
Suits in this system are shields, bells, roses, and acorns. Perhaps partly due to limited geographical spread, the system has become unified into a single pattern. Court cards are King and two Knaves, distinguished — even by name — according to position of suit symbols on card: "Ober" if at top, "Unter" (or "Under") if at bottom. Cards, now double-headed, have retained the use of a flag (the Banner) in place of '10'. Deuce ('2') always replaces ace, although name of the latter is often used. Note that deuce of shields is now depicted in shape of a heart (!). Deck consists of 36 [D6789BUOK] cards, though 48-card version [D3456789BUOK] is still rarely used. D=Deuce | B=Banner | U=Under | O=Ober | K=King
Swiss patternsingle-headed
14
double-headed
32
variants
27
All other decks (by country):
Germanypreview
1
Liechtensteinpreview
1
Switzerlandsample: designed by Oechslinsample: designed by Moehsnang