Ace of Spades Meaning: Death Card, Luck and Legend

The ace of spades is the most famous card in the deck. It is the highest card in many games, the one card a deck's designer always decorates, and a symbol of both luck and death. Here is where each of those meanings came from.

Why it is the fanciest card in the deck

Look at almost any deck and the ace of spades is the one with the big, ornate design. That is a tax.

In 1711 England began taxing playing cards. To prove the duty had been paid, one card in each deck was printed or stamped by the government — and from 1765, that card was the ace of spades, printed by the Stamp Office with an elaborate design that was hard to forge. Forging it was a serious crime; one card maker was hanged for it in 1805.

The duty lasted until 1960, by which time an elaborate ace of spades had become simply how a deck looked. Card makers still put their name and their best artwork there.

The highest card

In spades, it is the top trump — the one card guaranteed to win a trick. In many other games the Ace is high and spades are the senior suit, making it the top card of the whole deck. That gives it its meaning of winning, power and being the best: an "ace" pilot, "aced" an exam.

The death card

The spade has long been linked to death — perhaps through the gravedigger's spade, perhaps through its origin as a sword. In fortune-telling with ordinary cards, the ace of spades has traditionally been the most ominous card in the deck.

The most famous story comes from the Vietnam War. American soldiers came to believe the card frightened the enemy, and in 1966 two lieutenants wrote to a playing-card company in Cincinnati asking for decks made entirely of aces of spades. The company sent thousands, free, and soldiers left them on the battlefield as a calling card. Whether it frightened anyone is doubtful, but the image stuck.

In the Second World War, regiments of the 101st Airborne Division were marked by card suits painted on their helmets, and the 506th Parachute Infantry carried the spade — which added to the card's military association.

The dead man's hand

Aces and eights — usually the black aces and black eights — are the dead man's hand, said to be the cards Wild Bill Hickok held when he was shot during a poker game in Deadwood in 1876. The fifth card is disputed.

Ace of spades tattoo meaning

As a tattoo, the ace of spades can mean any of these, and usually means more than one:

• Luck and winning — the top card, the gambler's card.
• Death and defiance — living without fear of it, or remembering someone.
• Military service, through its use in Vietnam and the Second World War.
• Rock and roll and motorcycles — the card has been a biker and rock symbol for decades.

Ace of spades meaning in tarot and love readings

In tarot, the spade suit corresponds to swords, so the ace of spades corresponds to the Ace of Swords: a breakthrough, a clear decision, the truth cutting through. In readings with ordinary playing cards it has traditionally meant endings, transformation or a hard truth — in love, often a decisive change rather than literal bad news.

The card itself

A deck with a really good ace of spades is a pleasure to own. Black and gold decks, pirate decks and foil decks all make the most of it — and an ace of spades makes a good gift for anyone who plays cards, likes a bit of danger, or lives by "memento mori".