Pokémon Card Rarity Symbols: What Every Symbol Means

A circle means Common, a diamond Uncommon, a star Rare. Every Pokémon rarity symbol explained, from Double Rare to Mega Hyper Rare, plus Japanese codes.

Checked Oct 28, 2026

Pokémon card rarity symbols at a glance

Every Pokémon card shows its rarity with a small symbol printed right after its collector number. A black circle means Common, a black diamond means Uncommon and a black star means Rare. Two or more stars, or a colored star, mean a higher rarity: in current sets that runs from Double Rare (two black stars) up to Special Illustration Rare (two gold stars) and Mega Hyper Rare (a gold four-pointed star).

The Pokémon Company kept the three basic symbols when it added new ones with Scarlet & Violet in 2023, so a circle, diamond or star means the same thing on a 1999 card as on a 2026 card.

Black circle (●): Common. The most plentiful cards in a pack.
Black diamond (◆): Uncommon.
Black star (★): Rare. In Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution sets every Rare is printed as a holo card.
Black star with the word PROMO: Black Star Promo. These come from boxes, tins and events rather than as a booster pack rarity.

Rarity symbols in Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution sets

Scarlet & Violet introduced a system where the color and number of stars tell you the rarity. The Mega Evolution series, which began on September 26, 2025, kept it and added new symbols for its top cards. These are the symbols you can find in English packs from 2023 to October 2026.

Two black stars: Double Rare. The standard rarity for Pokémon ex, including Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in the main set.
Two silver stars: Ultra Rare. Full-art Pokémon ex and Supporters. Mega Evolution sets also have Item, Stadium and Pokémon Tool cards at this rarity.
One gold star: Illustration Rare. New full-art illustrations of regular (non-ex) Pokémon.
Two gold stars: Special Illustration Rare. Alternate-art Pokémon ex and Supporters, usually the most wanted cards in a set.
Three gold stars: Hyper Rare. Gold cards with gilded borders, the kind earlier sets called secret rares. Mega Evolution sets have used Mega Hyper Rare in this top slot so far.
One pink star: ACE SPEC Rare. Powerful Trainer and Energy cards, and your deck may include only one ACE SPEC card. Introduced in Temporal Forces (March 2024).
One hollow gold star: Shiny Rare. Shiny Pokémon, introduced in this form in Paldean Fates (January 2024).
Two hollow gold stars: Shiny Ultra Rare. Full-art shiny Pokémon ex.
One black star and one white star: Black White Rare. Full-art cards printed in black and white, such as Zekrom ex, from Black Bolt and White Flare (July 2025).
Gold four-pointed star with a black outline: Mega Hyper Rare. All-gold full-art Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. It debuted in the Mega Evolution set, which has only two: Mega Gardevoir ex and Mega Lucario ex.
One pink star and one green star: Mega Attack Rare. Comic-style full arts of Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, added in Ascended Heroes (January 30, 2026) with seven cards.
Futuristic rare: An all-new rarity from the 30th Celebration set (September 16, 2026), with artwork by YOSHIROTTEN. The set has two: Mew ex and Mewtwo ex.

Where to find the rarity symbol and number on the card

On Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution cards, look at the bottom-left corner, under the illustrator's name. From left to right you will see the regulation mark (a letter in a white box), the set code with its language (for example MEG EN in a black box), the collector number (for example 188/132) and then the rarity symbol.

Sun & Moon (from 2017) and Sword & Shield cards use the same corner, with a small set symbol instead of a set code. Older cards, from the original Base Set through the XY series, print the number and rarity symbol in the bottom-right corner.

What is a rare Pokémon card?

Strictly, any card with a star symbol is Rare or better. When collectors say a card is rare, they usually mean Double Rare and above, and especially secret rares: cards numbered higher than the set's printed total. In the Mega Evolution set the main set runs from 001 to 132, and cards 133 to 188 are secret rares, so the gold Mega Lucario ex is numbered 188/132. If the first number is bigger than the second, you have a card from outside the main set.

Rarity is not the same as value. Two cards with the same symbol can be priced very differently because of the Pokémon shown, demand, condition, language and finish. A Special Illustration Rare of a popular Pokémon can sell for many times more than one of a less popular Pokémon from the same set.

Because the same Pokémon is often printed at several rarities in one set, the collector number is what tells them apart. Scanning a card with CardFrame identifies its set, number and language and shows a price estimate for that printing; when a normal and a reverse holo share the art, you pick yours from the variants.

Holo, reverse holo and the older rarity system

Before Scarlet & Violet, one black star covered both non-holo Rares and Holo Rares. The difference was the foil, not the symbol: a holo card has foil only inside the art box. A reverse holo has foil across the rest of the card and a plain art box. Scarlet & Violet sets call these parallel foil cards, and on them the set code at the bottom left is a white box with black text instead of a black one.

Older ultra rares, such as Pokémon-EX, GX, V and VMAX cards, full arts and rainbow cards, still used a single star, often white or foil. On those cards the star alone tells you little, so check the card type and the collector number. The 1st Edition stamp on early Wizards of the Coast cards marks the first print run, not a rarity.

Japanese Pokémon card rarity codes

Japanese cards print the rarity as letters instead of stars, right after the collector number in the bottom-left corner. Some codes look like English names but mean different tiers: a Japanese UR is a gold card (English Hyper Rare), while a Japanese SR matches the English Ultra Rare.

C, U, R: Common, Uncommon and Rare. Older Japanese cards used the circle, diamond and star instead.
RR: Double Rare. Usually Pokémon ex (V and GX in older sets).
RRR: Triple Rare. VMAX and VSTAR cards from Sword & Shield era sets; not used in Scarlet & Violet.
AR: Art Rare. The English equivalent is Illustration Rare.
SR: Super Rare. Full-art Pokémon ex and Supporters; the English equivalent is Ultra Rare.
SAR: Special Art Rare. The English equivalent is Special Illustration Rare.
UR: Ultra Rare. Gold cards; the English equivalent is Hyper Rare.
S and SSR: Shiny cards, matching the English Shiny Rare and Shiny Ultra Rare.
ACE: ACE SPEC. The English equivalent is ACE SPEC Rare.
BWR: Black White Rare, from the Black Bolt and White Flare sets.
MUR: Mega Ultra Rare. Gold Mega Evolution Pokémon ex; the English equivalent is Mega Hyper Rare.
MA: Mega Attack Rare, the same rarity name as in English.
FUR: Futuristic Rare, from the 30th Celebration set (2026).

Sources

The facts above were checked against these pages on Oct 28, 2026.