Pokémon rarity symbols

Once you know the three basic shapes, reading one takes about five seconds.

A solid black circle means common, a solid black diamond means uncommon, and a solid black star means rare. Everything beyond that—double rares, illustration rares, hyper rares—builds on those three shapes. This guide covers all of them.

The Pokémon Company revised its rarity symbols when the Scarlet & Violet Series began, sharpening the differences between rarities and adding new rarity types on top. That's why cards from the last couple of years may look different from the ones you remember. Below is the full breakdown.

The Pokémon Company's own product guide marks common, uncommon and rare cards with a solid black circle, diamond and star—in that exact order of rarity.

Common — Black Circle

A solid black circle means the card is common. These are the cards you'll see most often in a pack.

Uncommon — Black Diamond

A solid black diamond means uncommon. A step up from common, but still a regular part of any pack.

Rare — Black Star

A solid black star means rare. One detail worth knowing: starting with Scarlet & Violet, every card of rare rarity or higher is foil, and a gray border lets the foil show through on rare cards.

The shapes get fancier as cards get rarer. Circle, diamond, star—keep that order in mind and the rest of this guide falls into place.

Pokémon added to the system rather than replacing it. Per the Scarlet & Violet aesthetic article on pokemon.com, the company updated its rarity symbols to show the differences between rarities more clearly and introduced brand-new rarity types that didn't exist before.

This isn't a whole new language. It's a few new words on top of circle-diamond-star.

Double Rare — Two Solid Black Stars

Two solid black stars means double rare. This one arrived with Scarlet & Violet, and it's where you'll find Pokémon ex—including Tera Pokémon ex, and Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in the Mega Evolution series.

Open an ex card with two stars instead of one, and that's what you're looking at.

Ultra Rare — Two Shiny Foil Stars

Two shiny foil stars means ultra rare. This covers the full-art foil versions of Pokémon ex and some Supporter cards.

The difference between double rare and ultra rare comes down to the foil. Double rare uses solid black stars; ultra rare uses shiny ones. Look closely.

Illustration Rare — One Shiny Gold Star

One shiny gold star means illustration rare. These are the alternate-art versions of common, uncommon and rare Pokémon, drawn as full-art foil illustrations.

The art direction is the draw. They often show the character's personality or its surroundings—the Pokémon isn't just posed, it's part of a scene.

Special Illustration Rare

Special illustration rare cards are the alternate-art versions of Pokémon ex or Supporter cards, also drawn as full-art foil illustrations. Pokémon doesn't describe this symbol in words, so I won't invent one—just know the symbol is shown on the card.

Hyper Rare — Three Shiny Gold Stars

Three shiny gold stars means hyper rare. These are full-art foil cards with gilded borders and accents.

One bit of trivia for older collectors: Pokémon says hyper rare cards were previously known as secret rare cards. So when someone mentions "secret rares," they mean what's now called hyper rare.

Shiny Rare and Shiny Ultra Rare

These two debuted in the Scarlet & Violet Paldean Fates set.

• Shiny rare is identified by a sparkling star.
• Shiny ultra rare is identified by a pair of sparkling stars.

ACE SPEC Rare

ACE SPEC rare is a rarity in Pokémon's card database. ACE SPEC cards were first introduced back in the Black & White Series, and they come with one rule that sets them apart: a deck may hold only a single ACE SPEC card in total.

Mega Attack Rare — Pink and Green Stars

Mega attack rare cards are special full-art cards of Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in a bold, colorful style, featuring a large graphic of the Japanese attack name. They're identified by pink and green stars, and the rarity debuted with Ascended Heroes.

Mega Hyper Rare

Mega hyper rare cards are special full-art cards of Mega Evolution Pokémon ex with gold-etched holographic artwork. Pokémon doesn't describe this symbol in words—just know the symbol is shown on the card.

A Quick Word on the 30th Celebration Set

While we're on special cards: Pokémon's 30th Celebration set has a Pikachu rare card in every pack, plus Futuristic rare cards designed by the artist YOSHIROTTEN. Every card in a 30th Celebration pack is foil.

I've listed the rarities where Pokémon describes the symbol in words, plus special illustration rare and Mega hyper rare, where the symbol is shown on the card but not described.

The pattern holds down the chart: more stars, shinier stars, and fancier colors as you climb the rarity ladder.

A rarity symbol tells you how rare a card is within its set. It does not promise you a specific card in any given pack. Pokémon states plainly that it cannot promise any specific Pokémon or card type in a given pack.

For reference, a Scarlet & Violet era booster pack holds 10 game cards: 4 commons, 3 uncommons and 3 foils (at least one of which is rare or higher), plus 1 Energy card and 1 code card.

Rarity and Value Are Not the Same Thing

People tend to treat the rarity symbol like a price tag. It isn't one.

Pokémon says it does not track the secondary-market value of its cards. That value comes from the wants and needs of the Pokémon community, not from the company. A rarity symbol is a solid starting point for identifying a card, but it's not the whole story.

For a sense of which cards collectors actually care about, our rundown of the most valuable Pokémon cards is a better guide than any single symbol.

You'll glance at a corner and know: circle means common, three gold stars means you've found something good.

If you care about condition as much as rarity, graded cards take the guesswork out—the grade sits right there on the label. Our guide comparing PSA vs. CGC vs. BGS vs. SGC breaks down the main grading companies and how they differ.

Graded Pokémon cards from every era are on Grailday, with the grade on each label. You can see how it works if you're curious.