Playing Cards from Switzerland
Although playing cards may have first appeared in Italy or Spain, they very soon arrived north of the Alps. Early literary evidence indicates that playing cards arrived in Switzerland sometime around 1376. In 1377 A friar from Basle by the name of John described a pack of cards in some detail during a sermon, and a great freedom was already apparent in the composition of the pack described by him. Clearly designers and illustrators of playing cards were not bound by any rigid convention.
The Swiss national suit system of shields, acorns, hawkbells and flowers emerged sometime during the fifteenth century from a multiplicity of suits which had evolved in the Upper Rhine region. A distinguishing feature is the 'banner 10' which was found in packs throughout the South of Germany and especially around the Alps in the 15th and 16th centuries. The banner 10 now only survives in Swiss playing cards and is more or less counted as an ace.
As new cantons joined the ancient Swiss Confederation they brought with them the customs of other lands: Italian-suited tarot cards and French-suited cards in the Paris and Lyons styles… cards in foreign styles have also been made for export.
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