Ace of spades

Stamp duty, an idea imported to England by Charles I, was extended to playing cards in 1711 by Queen Anne and lasted until 1960.

This was a capital offence, and the prosecutor Attorney General Spencer Perceval (later to become the prime minister assassinated in 1812) obtained the conviction of Richard Harding, who was hanged in 1805.

[7] The system was changed again in 1862 when official threepenny duty wrappers were introduced and, although the makers were free to use whatever design they wanted, most chose to keep the ornate ace of spades that is popular today.

[11] In World War II, the soldiers of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the American 101st Airborne Division were marked with the spades symbol painted on the sides of their helmets.

[12] They thought that the card's connections to French colonial rule of Vietnam and putative symbolism in Vietnamese tradition to mean death and ill-fortune would frighten and demoralise Viet Cong soldiers.

The plain white tuck cases were marked "Bicycle Secret Weapon", and the cards were deliberately scattered in villages and in the jungle during raids.

[20][a][21] The French expression fagoté comme l'as de pique translates to "(badly) dressed like the ace of spades.