A Pokémon card shows its rarity with a small symbol at the bottom, beside the collector number: a circle means common, a diamond uncommon and a star rare. Cards since Scarlet & Violet (March 31, 2023) add stars and colors for the higher rarities: two black stars for a Double Rare, two silver stars for an Ultra Rare, and one, two or three gold stars for an Illustration Rare, a Special Illustration Rare or a gold Hyper Rare. From 2010 to early 2023, a white star marked the ultra rares, and Japanese cards print a letter code such as C, R, SR or UR instead of a symbol.
Rarity symbols on English cards since 2023
| Symbol | Rarity | What it marks |
|---|---|---|
| One black circle | Common | 4 of the 10 cards in a main-set pack |
| One black diamond | Uncommon | 3 in a pack |
| One black star | Rare | Always foil since 2023 |
| Two black stars | Double Rare | Regular Pokémon ex, Mega Evolution ex included |
| Two silver stars | Ultra Rare | Full-art Pokémon ex and Supporters |
| One gold star | Illustration Rare | A full illustration of a Pokémon that is not an ex |
| Two gold stars | Special Illustration Rare | Alternate art of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter |
| Three gold stars, in a triangle | Hyper Rare | Gold cards of the Scarlet & Violet sets (2023 to 2025) |
| One four-pointed gold star outlined in black | Mega Hyper Rare | Gold Mega Evolution ex, since September 2025 |
| One hollow gold star | Shiny Rare | Shiny Pokémon, Paldean Fates (2024) |
| Two hollow gold stars | Shiny Ultra Rare | Shiny Pokémon ex, Paldean Fates |
| One pink star | ACE SPEC Rare | One per deck, in all; Temporal Forces (2024) to Prismatic Evolutions (2025) |
| One filled and one hollow star | Black White Rare | Black Bolt and White Flare (2025) |
| One pink and one green star | Mega Attack Rare | Seven Mega Evolution ex in Ascended Heroes (2026) |
| One large purple or green star | Futuristic Rare | Mewtwo ex and Mew ex in 30th Celebration (2026) |
| A Pikachu badge, 01/30 to 30/30 | Pikachu Rare | One in every 30th Celebration pack |
The number helps too. In the 20 English sets from Scarlet & Violet to 30th Celebration that we checked in our catalog, every other rarity in the table, from Illustration Rare to Futuristic Rare, is numbered above the set total, like 244/198, while Commons, Uncommons, Rares, Double Rares, ACE SPEC Rares and Pikachu Rares sit inside it, like 081/198. A card above the total is what collectors call a secret rare: a number, not a rarity. When Scarlet & Violet launched, the publisher said Hyper Rares "were previously known as secret rare cards".
Where to find the symbol
On English cards from 1999 to 2016, through XY Evolutions (November 2016), the symbol sits at the bottom right, after the number. Since Sun & Moon (February 2017) it sits at the bottom left, right after the number. BREAK cards (2015 to 2016) are printed sideways, so their number and symbol run along the right edge. Comparing this bottom line with a genuine copy is one of the first checks in our guide to spotting fake Pokémon cards. Do not confuse the rarity symbol with the set symbol, the small picture (or, since 2023, the three-letter code) that names the expansion: every one is in our list of Pokémon set symbols.
Common: a black circle. Pikachu 58/102, Base Set (1999).Older cards: 1999 to early 2023
Before Scarlet & Violet, three symbols did most of the work, and an ultra rare showed in the color of its star rather than in a number of stars:
| Years | Where | Symbols |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 to 2009, Base Set to the Platinum sets | Bottom right | Black circle, diamond and star, holo rares, secret cards and Shining and Crystal Pokémon included; a small gold star on Gold Star cards (2004 to 2007); a star that looks foil rather than black on LV.X cards (2007 to 2009) |
| 2010 to 2016, HeartGold SoulSilver to Evolutions | Bottom right | Black symbols on ordinary cards; a white star on Prime cards (2010) and, from Black & White (2011), on Pokémon-EX and BREAK cards, full arts and secret rares |
| 2017 to January 2023, Sun & Moon to Crown Zenith | Bottom left | Black symbols on ordinary cards; a white star on GX, V, VMAX and VSTAR cards, full arts, rainbow and gold secret rares, Radiant Rares and Trainer Gallery cards |
A white star is the ultra-rare mark of those years, from a plain Pokémon-EX to a gold secret rare, so the number and the finish tell such cards apart: a secret rare is numbered above the set total, like the gold Reshiram 114/113 of 2013. A few symbols break the pattern. Amazing Rares (from Vivid Voltage, 2020) carry a multicolored A, Prism Star cards (2018 to 2019) a black star, with the Prism Star mark in the card's name, and shiny cards a black star in Hidden Fates (2019) but a white one in Shining Fates (2021).
Typhlosion#110
Zekrom#114
Reshiram EX#22
M Charizard EX#108
Decidueye GX#12
Celebi V#1
Umbreon VMAX#215
Arceus VSTARGG70
Dark Raichu, numbered 83/82 in Team Rocket (April 2000), was the first card above its set total; a Japanese Dark Raichu followed that July, in Crossing the Ruins.
The rarities since 2023, up close
Common, Uncommon and Rare
The three black symbols have not changed since 1999, and the publisher confirmed they would stay the same when Scarlet & Violet launched. Since then, every Rare in a pack has been foil. A holo card is not necessarily rare, though: the reverse holos in each pack keep their own card's symbol.
Uncommon: a black diamond. Pyukumuku 47/149, Sun & Moon.
Rare: a black star. Bruxish 48/149, Sun & Moon.Double Rare, Ultra Rare and the gold stars
The two-star cards are the classic mix-up: black stars mark a Double Rare, the regular ex, and silver stars an Ultra Rare, its full-art version. Gold stars count up the illustration ladder: one for an Illustration Rare, two for a Special Illustration Rare and three, one above two, for a Hyper Rare. One Pokémon can come in four of these rarities in the same set:
Double Rare: two black stars. Miraidon ex 081/198.
Illustration Rare: one gold star. Stoutland 156/086, White Flare.
Special Illustration Rare: two gold stars. Spidops ex 243/198.
Hyper Rare: three gold stars. Nest Ball 255/198.The special symbols
Shiny Rares carry one hollow gold star and Shiny Ultra Rares two, on the shiny Pokémon of Paldean Fates (January 2024). ACE SPEC Rares carry a pink star, and a deck may hold only one ACE SPEC card in all. Black White Rares carry one filled and one hollow star, on four cards: Victini and Zekrom ex in Black Bolt, Victini and Reshiram ex in White Flare (July 2025). Mega Attack Rares carry one pink and one green star. Mega Hyper Rares carry one four-pointed gold star outlined in black: eight have been printed in English through Pitch Black, all gold Mega Evolution ex. Every kind of gold card, from Hyper Rares to metal cards, is in our guide to gold Pokémon cards.
ACE SPEC Rare: a pink star. Awakening Drum 141/162.
Mega Hyper Rare: a four-pointed gold star outlined in black. Mega Darkrai ex 120/084.
Mega Attack Rare: a pink and a green star. Mega Dragonite ex 271/217.
30th Celebration's new marks
30th Celebration (September 16, 2026) adds three. Its 30 Pikachu Rares replace the star with a Pikachu badge numbered 01/30 to 30/30, and every pack holds one. Its two Futuristic Rares, Mewtwo ex 157/128 and Mew ex 158/128, drawn by YOSHIROTTEN, carry one large star, purple or green. And three secret Mew cards that the publisher had not announced as of September 24, 2026, numbered R/RGB, G/RGB and B/RGB, carry a red, green and blue emblem where the star would be. The set's Classic Collection reprints keep the symbol of the card they reprint: a black star on Charizard 4/102, a gold Illustration Rare star on Magikarp 203/193.
As of September 24, 2026, real completed sales put the Pikachu Rare 023/128 at $3 raw (318 sales), the Futuristic Mew ex at $144 (613 sales) and the three RGB Mews at $3,641 to $3,992 (18 to 40 sales each).
The Japanese letter codes
Japanese cards print a letter code after the number instead of a symbol, since Black Collection and White Collection (December 17, 2010); earlier Japanese cards used the circle, diamond and star. The code sat at the bottom right through the XY years and has been at the bottom left since Collection Sun and Collection Moon (December 9, 2016). The Simplified Chinese Pokémon Card 151 of mainland China (2025) prints the same codes.
| Code | Name | What it marks | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| C, U, R | Common, Uncommon, Rare | Every set since December 2010 | Circle, diamond, star |
| RR | Double Rare | Pokémon GX, V and ex | Double Rare since 2023; a white star before |
| RRR | Triple Rare | VMAX and VSTAR cards, Sword & Shield era | White star |
| SR | Super Rare | Full-art Pokémon and Trainers | Ultra Rare |
| HR | Hyper Rare | Rainbow cards, Sun & Moon and Sword & Shield eras | Rainbow secret rare, not the gold Hyper Rare of 2023 to 2025 |
| UR | Ultra Rare | Gold cards from the Sun & Moon to the Scarlet & Violet era; in the Black & White years, other secret rares too | Gold secret rare; gold Hyper Rare, 2023 to 2025 |
| AR | Art Rare | A full illustration of a Pokémon | Illustration Rare |
| SAR | Special Art Rare | Alternate art of a Pokémon V or ex, or a Supporter | Special Illustration Rare |
| CHR, CSR | Character Rare, Character Super Rare | A Pokémon with its trainer, 2019 to 2022 | Trainer Gallery cards (2022) |
| S, SSR | Shiny, Shiny Super Rare | Shiny Pokémon, and shiny GX, V or ex, since 2018 | Shiny Vault (2019, 2021); Shiny Rare and Shiny Ultra Rare (2024) |
| K | Radiant | Radiant Pokémon (2022) | Radiant Rare, white star |
| PR | Prism Star | Prism Star cards (2018 to 2019) | Prism Star, black star |
| ACE | ACE SPEC, printed in pink | One-per-deck cards, Scarlet & Violet era, from 2024 | ACE SPEC Rare, pink star |
| BWR | Black White Rare | Black Bolt and White Flare (2025) | Black White Rare |
| MA | Mega Attack Rare | MEGA Dream ex (2025) | Mega Attack Rare |
| MUR | Mega Ultra Rare | Gold Mega Evolution ex, since August 2025 | Mega Hyper Rare |
| FUR | Futuristic Rare | Mewtwo ex and Mew ex, 30th CELEBRATION (2026) | Futuristic Rare |
The mapping trap is HR: on a Japanese card it marks the rainbow cards of the Sun & Moon and Sword & Shield sets, while the gold card, the English Hyper Rare, is UR. Amazing Rares print the same multicolored A in both languages, and the 30 Pikachu of 30th CELEBRATION the same Pikachu badge. How Japanese sets match English ones is in our guide to Japanese Pokémon cards.
Japanese code AR, Art Rare: 075/063.
Japanese code SAR, Special Art Rare: 089/063.
Japanese code CHR, Character Rare: 061/049.
Mew ex#208
Orbeetle VMAX#112
Galarian Obstagoon#119
Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR#101
Radiant Charizard#15
Zekrom ex#174
Mega Dragonite ex#250
Mewtwo ex#134How many of each rarity a set holds
Counted card by card in our catalog:
| Rarity | Scarlet & Violet, 10 main sets (2,338 cards) | Mega Evolution, 5 main sets (684 cards) |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 35.7% | 33.5% |
| Uncommon | 24.5% | 21.9% |
| Rare | 7.6% | 8.2% |
| Double Rare | 7.0% | 7.2% |
| Illustration Rare | 9.4% | 9.9% |
| Ultra Rare | 8.1% | 13.6% |
| Special Illustration Rare | 4.3% | 4.8% |
| Hyper Rare or Mega Hyper Rare | 2.4% | 0.9% |
| ACE SPEC Rare | 1.0% | none |
Main sets: Scarlet & Violet to Destined Rivals (2023 to 2025), and Mega Evolution to Pitch Black (2025 to 2026).
Illustration Rares are not scarce: across these sets there are more of them than plain Rares. The thin tiers are the gold cards, three to nine Hyper Rares per Scarlet & Violet set and one or two Mega Hyper Rares per Mega Evolution set. These shares describe the checklist, not your odds, and the publisher prints no pull rates for English or Japanese packs. In retailer counts, a Hyper Rare turned up about once in 54 packs of Scarlet & Violet, and a Mega Hyper Rare about once in 1,081 packs of Pitch Black; our set pages show measured odds, as for Pitch Black. Which slot of a pack each rarity comes in is in our guide to how many cards are in a pack, and which sets give the most back is in our guide to the best packs for rare cards.
Three traps
- Reverse holo is not a rarity. A reverse holo keeps its card's symbol, so a common in reverse holo is a common. The foil styles of each era are in our guide to holo patterns.
- A promo's star is not a rarity. Most English Black Star Promos print a black star with the word PROMO in place of a rarity symbol, in gold on gold promos such as Pikachu V SWSH145. It says nothing about how many copies exist.
- Rare does not mean valuable. The four Miraidon ex above sold for $1.57 (Double Rare, 9 sales), $3.46 (Ultra Rare, 14 sales), $19.88 (Special Illustration Rare, 8 sales) and $7.88 (Hyper Rare, 16 sales) raw, in real completed sales as of September 24, 2026: the gold Hyper Rare, top of the ladder, sells for less than the Special Illustration Rare.
FAQ
What do the stars on a Pokémon card mean?
Their number and color give the rarity. On cards since 2023, one black star is a Rare, two black stars a Double Rare, two silver stars an Ultra Rare, and one, two or three gold stars an Illustration Rare, a Special Illustration Rare or a Hyper Rare.
What does a white star mean on a Pokémon card?
It marks the ultra rares of 2010 to early 2023: Pokémon-EX, GX, V, VMAX and VSTAR cards, full arts and secret rares, gold and rainbow ones included. On a card of those years, a black star marks an ordinary rare.
Where is the rarity symbol on a Pokémon card?
At the bottom, right after the collector number: at the bottom right on English cards from 1999 to 2016, and at the bottom left since Sun & Moon (February 2017).
What is the rarest Pokémon card rarity?
Of the named rarities in the English sets of 2025 and 2026, the Mega Hyper Rare: one or two per Mega Evolution set, about once in 1,081 to 1,260 packs in early counts. The three RGB Mew cards of 30th Celebration, which the publisher had not announced as of September 24, 2026, appear to be rarer still.
What does UR mean on a Japanese Pokémon card?
Ultra Rare, the code of Japanese gold cards. On Scarlet & Violet-era cards (2023 to 2025) it matches the English gold Hyper Rare; Mega Evolution-era gold cards print MUR instead, and the Japanese HR code marked the rainbow cards of the Sun & Moon and Sword & Shield sets.
Is a secret rare a rarity?
No: a secret rare is any card numbered above its set's total, such as 244/198. Since 2023 each such card has a named rarity, and in the sets we checked no Common, Uncommon, Rare, Double Rare or ACE SPEC Rare is numbered that way.
