<P> The king is a playing card with a picture of a king on it . The king is usually the highest - ranking face card . In French playing cards and tarot decks, the king immediately outranks the queen . In Italian and Spanish playing cards, the king immediately outranks the knight . In German and Swiss playing cards, the king immediately outranks the Ober . In some games, the king is the highest - ranked card; in others, the ace is higher . Aces began outranking kings around 1500 with Trappola being the earliest known game in which the aces were highest in all four suits . In the Ace - Ten family of games such as pinochle and schnapsen, both the ace and the 10 rank higher than the king . </P> <P> The king card is the oldest and most universal court card . It most likely originated in Persian Ganjifeh where kings are depicted as seated on thrones and outranking the viceroy cards which are mounted on horses . Playing cards were transmitted to Italy and Spain via the Mamluks and Moors . The best preserved and most complete deck of Mamluk cards, the Topkapı pack, did not display human figures but just listed their rank most likely due to religious prohibition . It is not entirely secure if the Topkapı pack was representative of all Mamluk decks as it was a custom - made luxury item used for display . A fragment of what may be a seated king card was recovered in Egypt which may explain why the poses of court cards in Europe resemble those in Persia and India . </P>

The four kings in a deck of cards