The Iconography of a Standard Deck of Cards

Iconography is "the visual images, symbols, or modes of representation collectively associated with a person, cult, or movement"(New Oxford American Dictionary). The example of iconography we drew upon in class was the example in the images of Adam and Eve. We did not need to be told who the people were in the images, but based on the iconography used we could immediately identify Adam and Eve. An interesting example of iconography, to me, is that which is almost universally used on playing cards. The design of standard playing cards has gone roughly unchanged for hundreds of years, especially the look and of the face cards: Jack, Queen, and King. I love playing cards, I constantly use them whether its a card game or doing magic tricks for friends I'm always around this iconography. I'm really interested in the fact that these images have had little to no change of hundreds years. Millions and millions of people have played with cards that look exactly the same all over the world for generations. That amazes me. The design of the cards themselves are interesting, and I'm sure there is plenty of meaning and significance in those designs. I think it is so interesting that the meaning and recognizability of these cards surpasses language even.
This summer I went to the Dominican Republic and lived at an all boys orphanage. A deck of cards became my best friend, especially those first few weeks while I was getting used to using Spanish again. I never had to say anything, they'd teach me their games, without needing words, and and we'd play or I could do a magic trick on one of the boys with the cards and I didn't need words to explain what I was doing. He'd see the King of Hearts, I'd slide it in the middle, snap my fingers and then he'd see the King of Hearts on the top of the deck. They loved it and it's that common, recognizable iconography of the cards that make that possible. They play with cards all the time so they know exactly what it all looks like. It's a simple, yet affective design that has created the iconic images of our standard playing cards.