Pokémon Card Rarity Symbols

Where to find the rarity symbol

Look at the bottom left corner of any recent card. You will see a letter in a small box, a short set code like SVI or MEG, the card number, and then a small symbol. That last symbol is the rarity.

The letter at the start is not a rarity, even though people often read it that way. It is the regulation mark, which decides when a card rotates out of Standard play. On much older cards, the number and rarity sit in the bottom right instead.

Circle, diamond and star

These three go back to the very first set in 1999 and still mean the same thing today. A black circle is Common, a black diamond is Uncommon, and a black star is Rare. Most of the cards in any booster pack are circles and diamonds, with one rare or better in each pack.

Common, Uncommon and Rare

Pineco

Common: black circle#1

Heracross

Uncommon: black diamond#2

Meowscarada

Rare: black star#15

The Scarlet & Violet rarity chart

Scarlet & Violet, from 2023, is where the stars started to multiply. Two black stars mean Double Rare: the regular Pokémon ex in the main part of the set. Two silver stars mean Ultra Rare, which covers the full-art versions of Pokémon ex and Supporters.

Gold stars are the ones collectors chase. One gold star is an Illustration Rare, a regular Pokémon with artwork that fills the whole card. Two gold stars is a Special Illustration Rare, the same idea for a Pokémon ex or Supporter, and usually the most wanted cards in a set. Three gold stars is a Hyper Rare, the gold-textured cards at the very end of the set.

From Double Rare to Hyper Rare

Spidops ex

Double Rare: 2 black stars#19

Spidops ex

Ultra Rare: 2 silver stars#223

Tarountula

Illustration Rare: 1 gold star#199

Spidops ex

Special Illustration Rare: 2 gold#243

Miraidon ex

Hyper Rare: 3 gold stars#253

Shiny and ACE SPEC symbols

Paldean Fates added two rarities for shiny Pokémon. Shiny Rare is a single gold star with a hollow centre, and Shiny Ultra Rare is two of them, used for shiny Pokémon ex.

A pink star means ACE SPEC Rare. ACE SPEC cards are powerful Trainer cards you can only put one of in a deck, and they came back in Temporal Forces in 2024 with their own symbol.

Shiny Rare, Shiny Ultra Rare and ACE SPEC Rare

Oddish

Shiny Rare: hollow gold star#92

Forretress ex

Shiny Ultra Rare: 2 hollow gold#212

Awakening Drum

ACE SPEC Rare: pink star#141

New symbols in the Mega Evolution sets

The Mega Evolution sets that started in late 2025 dropped the three gold stars. Their top rarity is Mega Hyper Rare, marked with a black four-pointed sparkle and used for the gold Mega Pokémon ex at the end of the set. Ascended Heroes added Mega Attack Rare, marked with two outlined stars, one pink and one green.

30th Celebration brought two more. A purple star means Futuristic Rare. The 30 Pikachu Rares skip the star altogether: they show a Pikachu head with their own count out of 30.

Mega Evolution era rarities

Mega Gardevoir ex

Mega Hyper Rare: sparkle#187

Mega Froslass ex

Mega Attack Rare: pink and green#265

Mewtwo ex

Futuristic Rare: purple star#157

Pikachu

Pikachu Rare: Pikachu head#23

Rarity on older cards

Before Scarlet & Violet, the symbols stopped at a single star, black on light cards and white on dark ones. A holo rare, a V, a full art and a gold secret rare from Sword & Shield all carry that same star, so on older cards you tell them apart by the card itself.

The other clue is the number. If it is higher than the set total, like 83/82 on Team Rocket's Dark Raichu, you have a secret rare. Promo cards are marked with a black star that says PROMO, which is the promo set symbol rather than a rarity.

The first secret rare

Dark Raichu

Team Rocket, 83/82#83

Does a rarer symbol mean a more valuable card?

Usually, but not always. The symbol tells you how hard a card is to pull, not what people will pay for it. An Illustration Rare of a popular Pokémon can be worth more than a Hyper Rare of one nobody collects, and demand moves over time.

On Pooka, every set page lets you filter by rarity, so you can see all the gold-star cards in a set at once, and every card page lists its rarity.