35 Epic Playing Card Tattoos

No matter where you are in the world, almost all playing cards are the same. Playing cards date all the way back to 9th century AD during the Tang dynasty in China. These cards eventually spread throughout Persia, Arabia, Egypt and eventually to Europe. Today, the most common type of playing card is the French-suited standard 52-card deck. These specific cards began cropping up during the late 15th century and gave rise to the English pattern—which remains the most popular pattern to this day.

The English pattern evolved from the patterns produced in Rouen, France and a standard deck is comprised of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. There are 13 cards in each suit, which include the numbers 2 through 10 as well as ace, jack, queen and king. The numeral cards are often referred to as pip cards, whereas the face cards can be called court cards. Given that there are 52 playing cards in a deck, the likelihood of having an identically arranged deck (after shuffling) is practically impossible, as there are approximately 80,658 vigintillion possibilities. Now that’s a big number.

In honor of all the playing card game lovers out there (whether you’re a fan of poker, Blackjack or Go Fish), take a peek at 35 of our favorite tattoos from talented tattooers around the world. Then let us know your favorite tattoo of the deck in the comments section on social media.