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The card became a powerful motivating emblem for the Americans and helped to boost their morale.

In Vietnam, the ace of spades meant more to the American troops than it did to the Viet Cong soldiers or civilians. The soldiers left the ace of spades on the bodies of Vietnamese soldiers so that it was often the last thing a soldier saw before he died. Though the superstition was based on biases and misconceptions, this didn’t stop the Americans from turning it into a genuinely terrifying symbol. When the French told fortunes with a deck of cards, the spade suit represented death and bad fortune. This superstition was a myth that dated back to when the French occupied the region. To intimidate them, the troops carried the cards to show the enemy that wherever they went, death would soon follow. US troops believed that the ace of spades was a frightening and evil omen for Viet Cong soldiers. Even though the card had been a symbol of honor and luck in World War II, the war in Vietnam introduced a completely new meaning. Nothing cemented the ace of spades’ status as the death card as much as the Vietnam War. It became a symbol of luck for the regiment and today the card is still used to commemorate the legacy of the 101st Airborne Division’s triumph in World War II. The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a part of the famous “Screaming Eagles” unit, was given the ace of spades as their mark. These symbols were painted on the sides of soldiers’ helmets to make it easier for them to identify their regiment when they were gliding, parachuting, or worse, got lost. But during World War II, the 101st Airborne Division decided to use card suits to identify different regiments. During World War I, the symbol had already been used by the British Army as part of their regimental insignia. In World War II, the ace of spades took on a larger, more encompassing symbolic meaning. The ace of spades as a symbol of death in war But even that marked only another moment in the card’s historical association with death. This time of the year was the hardest and darkest, with its ever-looming threats of famine and cold. Others believed the card represented the winter Week of Yule. Some people believed the spade itself represented the tool used to dig graves. This dark reputation followed the card into the 18th century when pirates started to use it as a threatening symbol to scare traitors and informers. Creating counterfeit cards became a capital offense, one that could lead to death by hanging so eventually a great many paid the ultimate price after being caught out creating counterfeit cards. Because the signing process was so expensive and time-consuming, people began to fake the stamp in an attempt to decrease costs. However, even this seemingly innocent connection to taxes soon turned an uncanny, dark corner. The stamp was proof that the “stamp duty” or tax had been paid. Once playing cards had become taxable, King James I, and later Queen Anne, enforced a law according to which the ace of spades card had to bear the insignia of the relevant printing house. And so, it should come as no surprise that following its initial connection with death, the ace of spades would also become associated with its twin certainty: tax. It is said that in life, only two things are certain: death and taxes. This link with death would become the first of many. The first of these can be traced back to medieval Europe when blacksmiths stamped their weaponry and armor with the ace of spades as a mark of quality. Though many people might chalk it up to superstition, there are actually multiple connections between the ace of spades and death. How a playing card became a symbol of death Is the card’s place in the hierarchy of cards the reason why it’s also referred to as the death card? Or is there a darker and more twisted story waiting to be told? Join us as we trace the history of the ace of spades “death card,” all the way from medieval Europe to the present. The ace of spades is the ultimate power card in an online poker game.