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A pointed black leaf on a short stem, ranking highest in most games.
Also known as: Spades, Pointed black shape on a card, Upside down heart with a stem
The shape is a leaf, not a digging spade. It descends from the German suit of leaves, and the English name comes from the Italian spade meaning swords — a coincidence of sound that has misled readers for four centuries.
One of the four French suits, printed in black, and the highest-ranking suit in bridge and in most games that rank suits at all.
The form descends from the leaf of the German suits rather than from any garden implement. The English name comes from the Italian spade, plural of spada, meaning swords — the suit the French shape replaced — so the word records the Italian suit and the shape records the German one.
The ace of spades carries the maker's mark in the British tradition because it was the card the duty stamp was applied to from 1712, which is why it is still the most elaborately printed card in an English deck.
United Kingdom · from 1712
A solid black shape shaped like a pointed leaf with two rounded shoulders, standing on a short flared stem.
The spade is one of the four French suits.
Both are black suits with a stem, and both descend from plant forms.