King (playing card)

In the French version of playing cards and tarot decks, the king immediately outranks the queen.

It most likely originated in Persian Ganjifeh where kings are depicted as seated on thrones and outranking the viceroy cards which are mounted on horses.

[3][4] The best preserved and most complete deck of Mamluk cards, the Topkapı pack, did not display human figures but just listed their rank most likely due to religious prohibition.

This is a result of centuries of bad copying by English card makers where the king's axe head has disappeared.

[7][8] Starting in the 15th century, French manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology.

King cards of all four suits in the English pattern
French Rouen pattern on the left, Spanish Toledo pattern on the right
Evolution of the king of hearts from the Rouennais pattern to the English pattern