Banner (playing card)

It is equivalent to a 10, being ranked between a 9 and an Unter (or Under in Swiss German).

In German-speaking Switzerland, to the east of the Brünig-Napf-Reuss line (the German-speaking part of Switzerland corresponding to the centre and east of the country), the most popular card deck is a pack of 36 cards with the Swiss suit symbols of Acorns, Bells, Roses and Shields and numbered as follows: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or Banner, Unter, Ober, King and Deuce.

Like the court cards, the Banners are double-ended in modern packs, the image begin repeated symmetrically about a diagonal line through the card, represented by the flagpole.

The Swiss Banner may be derived from old card games from the German-speaking regions of Europe which were based on a hunting theme, where cards worth ten points were also represented by a banner such as the Ambraser Hofjagdspiel (c. 1440–1445) and Stuttgarter Kartenspiel (c.

[4] In the mid-19th century, the obscure Mysore Chad Ganjifa seems to have independently developed the Dhwaja (flag or banner) card, which ranks higher than the twelve pip cards, but lower than the other five court cards.