What do the symbols on Pokémon cards mean?

The small symbol next to the card number at the bottom of the card shows its rarity. A black circle is Common, a black diamond is Uncommon and a black star is Rare. On cards from Scarlet & Violet (2023) onward, more stars mean a rarer card: two black stars for Double Rare, two silver stars for Ultra Rare, one gold star for Illustration Rare, two gold stars for Special Illustration Rare and three gold stars for Hyper Rare.

What is the rarest Pokémon card rarity right now?

In the main Mega Evolution sets, it is the Mega Hyper Rare, a gold card marked with a gold four-pointed star outlined in black. TCGplayer's Authentication Center opened more than 5,000 packs of the Mega Evolution set and reported one in about every 1,260 packs. The Pokémon Company doesn't publish pull rates. The three RGB Rare Mew cards in 30th Celebration look rarer still: community pack counts suggest about one in several thousand packs.

What is the difference between an Illustration Rare and a Special Illustration Rare?

An Illustration Rare (one gold star) is a full-art version of an ordinary Pokémon that is not an ex. A Special Illustration Rare (two gold stars) is a full-art version of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter, and it is much rarer. On 13 November 2026, Special Illustration Rares from the six main Mega Evolution sets had a median TCGplayer price of $31.41, against $2.81 for Illustration Rares.

What do two black stars mean on a Pokémon card?

Two black stars mean Double Rare. It is the regular printing of a Pokémon ex, reported in about one pack in five of the Mega Evolution set. Two silver or white stars mean Ultra Rare, the full-art printing of a Pokémon ex, Supporter or other Trainer card.

What do three gold stars mean on a Pokémon card?

Three gold stars mean Hyper Rare, the all-gold cards that used to be called secret rares. Hyper Rares appear in the Scarlet & Violet sets. The main Mega Evolution sets have replaced them with the Mega Hyper Rare, which uses a single gold four-pointed star outlined in black.

Are all rare Pokémon cards holo?

Since Scarlet & Violet (March 2023), yes: every Rare in an English booster pack is holofoil. Before that, the same black star was used for both holo and non-holo Rares, so on older cards the star alone does not tell you whether a card is a holo; look at whether the artwork is foil.

What do AR, SAR, SR and UR mean on Japanese Pokémon cards?

Japanese cards print rarity as letters. AR (Art Rare) is the English Illustration Rare, SAR (Special Art Rare) is the Special Illustration Rare, SR (Super Rare) is the Ultra Rare and UR (Ultra Rare) is the gold Hyper Rare. MUR is the Mega Hyper Rare and MA the Mega Attack Rare. The letters UR mean different things in the two languages, so check the English name before you buy.

Pokémon Rarity Symbols Chart: What Every Card Symbol Means

Q: What does the star mean on a Pokémon card?

A single black star at the bottom of the card means Rare. On modern cards, the colour and number of stars matter: two black stars is a Double Rare, two silver stars an Ultra Rare, one gold star an Illustration Rare, two gold stars a Special Illustration Rare and three gold stars a Hyper Rare. A star printed next to the Pokémon's name is something else: it marks a Gold Star card from the EX era of the mid-2000s.

The Short Answer

Pokémon rarity symbols are the small marks printed next to the card number at the bottom of every booster-pack card. A black circle means Common, a black diamond Uncommon and a black star Rare.

Since Scarlet & Violet (March 2023), the rarer cards are marked by the number and colour of their stars: two black stars for Double Rare, two silver stars for Ultra Rare, one gold star for Illustration Rare, two gold stars for Special Illustration Rare and three gold stars for Hyper Rare. The Mega Evolution era (from September 2025) tops the scale with the Mega Hyper Rare, a gold four-pointed star outlined in black.

This guide has the full chart for current sets, what the symbols meant in older eras, the Japanese letter codes, and what each rarity is actually worth, using TCGplayer prices from 13 November 2026.

Pokémon Rarity Symbols Chart for Current Sets

This is the scale used by the Scarlet & Violet sets (2023 to 2025) and the Mega Evolution sets (since September 2025), roughly from most to least common. The symbol descriptions come from The Pokémon Company's own announcement and Bulbapedia, and we checked each one against TCGplayer scans of Phantasmal Flames and Mega Evolution cards.

Rarity	Symbol	What the card is	Japanese code
Common	Black circle ●	Mostly basic Pokémon	C
Uncommon	Black diamond ◆	Evolved Pokémon and most Trainers	U
Rare	Black star ★	Stronger Pokémon; always holo since 2023	R
Double Rare	Two black stars	Regular Pokémon ex, including Mega Evolution ex	RR
ACE SPEC Rare	Pink star	Powerful Trainer or Energy, one per deck (Scarlet & Violet sets, 2024 to 2025)	ACE
Illustration Rare	One gold star	Full-art version of a Pokémon that is not an ex	AR
Ultra Rare	Two silver (white) stars	Full-art Pokémon ex, Supporters and other Trainers	SR
Shiny Rare	One hollow gold star	Shiny Pokémon (Paldean Fates, 2024)	S
Shiny Ultra Rare	Two hollow gold stars	Shiny Pokémon ex (Paldean Fates)	SSR
Special Illustration Rare	Two gold stars	Full-art illustration of a Pokémon ex or Supporter	SAR
Mega Attack Rare	Pastel pink and green stars	Pop-art Mega Evolution ex (Ascended Heroes and promos)	MA
Hyper Rare	Three gold stars	All-gold card, formerly called a secret rare (Scarlet & Violet sets)	UR
Mega Hyper Rare	Gold four-pointed star outlined in black	All-gold Mega Evolution ex, one or two per set	MUR

A few things the chart doesn't show:

Mega Evolution sets dropped two rarities. None of the main Mega Evolution sets on TCGplayer lists a Hyper Rare; the Mega Hyper Rare takes that top slot. And according to Bulbapedia's list of ACE SPEC cards, no English set since Prismatic Evolutions (January 2025) has included one.
Some guides call the Mega Hyper Rare symbol a diamond. Up close it is a gold four-pointed star with curved-in sides and a black outline. Bulbapedia calls it a gold star with a black border.
Ultra Rare stars look white on dark cards. The Pokémon Company calls them shiny foil stars. On a scan they read as silver or white, and they are easy to confuse with the two black stars of a Double Rare.

Special rarities in one-off sets

Some sets add a rarity of their own:

Black White Rare (Black Bolt and White Flare, July 2025): one black and one white star, on black-and-white Zekrom, Reshiram and Victini cards.
Pikachu Rare (30th Celebration, 2026): 30 Pikachu cards, each numbered 01/30 to 30/30 in place of a symbol. Bulbapedia says every 30th Celebration pack contains one.
Futuristic Rare (30th Celebration): Mewtwo ex and Mew ex in a metallic style, marked with a star in the card's main colour.
RGB Rare (30th Celebration): three Mew cards numbered R/RGB, G/RGB and B/RGB. According to Bulbapedia, the set's official website doesn't list the rarity among its special features. The R/RGB Mew had a TCGplayer market price of $4,492.45 on 9 November 2026.

Where Is the Rarity Symbol on a Pokémon Card?

On current cards, the rarity symbol is in the bottom-left corner, directly after the card number. On a Phantasmal Flames card the bottom-left line reads, from left to right: the regulation mark (a letter in a box, such as I), the set code (PFL EN), the card number (011/094) and then the rarity symbol.

Where it sits depends on the era:

Era	Where the rarity symbol is
Base Set to XY (1999 to 2016)	Bottom right, after the card number
Sun & Moon and Sword & Shield (2017 to 2023)	Bottom left, after the card number
Scarlet & Violet and Mega Evolution (2023 onward)	Bottom left, after the set code and card number

We checked these against TCGplayer scans: the Base Set Charizard (4/102) and cards from Diamond & Pearl (2007), Boundaries Crossed (2012) and XY Evolutions (2016) have the symbol at the bottom right, while a 2017 Burning Shadows card and a Sword & Shield Umbreon VMAX have it at the bottom left.

Two marks are often mistaken for rarity:

The letter in a box at the far left of modern cards (G, H, I and so on) is the regulation mark. It decides which cards are legal in the Standard format, not how rare the card is. Our Pokémon TCG rotation guide explains it.
Promo cards have a Black Star Promo symbol in place of a rarity symbol, and Basic Energy cards have no rarity at all.

A missing or wrong rarity symbol is a classic sign of a counterfeit. If a card's symbol doesn't match the official card image for that number, see how to tell if a Pokémon card is fake. The back of the card is the other quick check; our guide to the Pokémon card back shows what a real one looks like.

What Does the Star Mean on a Pokémon Card?

A single black star at the bottom of the card means Rare. On cards from 2023 onward, the colour and number of stars tell you how rare: black stars are the lower tiers, silver stars the Ultra Rares and gold stars the Illustration, Special Illustration and Hyper Rares.

A star next to the Pokémon's name is not a rarity symbol. It marks a Gold Star card ("Pokémon Star"), a shiny-coloured Pokémon from the EX era, first printed in EX Team Rocket Returns (2004). Gold Star cards are among the most valuable cards from that era: on 9 November 2026, an ungraded Groudon Star from EX Delta Species had a TCGplayer market price of $3,000.

Pokémon Rarity Symbols in Older Sets

The circle, diamond and star have marked Common, Uncommon and Rare since the first English set in 1999. What changed is how the rarer cards were marked. Before Scarlet & Violet, nearly everything above Rare used the same star, so the symbol alone told you much less.

Era	Years	How rarity worked
Wizards of the Coast (Base Set to Skyridge)	1999 to 2003	Black circle, diamond and star. Holo Rares and non-holo Rares share the star; only the foil artwork tells them apart. Shining Pokémon (Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny) and Crystal Pokémon (Aquapolis, Skyridge) are secret rares, numbered above the set size.
EX	2003 to 2007	Same three symbols. Pokémon-ex and Gold Star cards are the ultra rares; Bulbapedia lists Gold Stars as "Rare Holo Star".
Diamond & Pearl to XY	2007 to 2016	Same symbols. New card types (LV.X, Prime, LEGEND, Pokémon-EX, BREAK) are marked as Rare Holo with a star. Gold secret rares appear in Black & White and XY.
Sun & Moon	2017 to 2019	Symbol moves to the bottom left. GX, full-art, Rainbow Rare and gold secret rares all use the star.
Sword & Shield	2020 to 2023	V, VMAX, VSTAR, alternate arts, Rainbow Rares and gold cards all use the star. Shining Fates marks its Shiny Vault with a star and "SH".
Scarlet & Violet	2023 to 2025	The star scale in the chart above. All Rares are holo.
Mega Evolution	2025 onward	Adds the Mega Hyper Rare and the Mega Attack Rare; drops the Hyper Rare.

How to tell a secret rare on an older card: look at the number, not the symbol. A secret rare is numbered higher than the set's printed size, such as the Skyridge Charizard at 146/144. That card, a Crystal Pokémon, had a TCGplayer market price of $2,999.99 ungraded on 9 November 2026.

Holo vs non-holo stars: on cards before 2023, the star doesn't tell you whether a card is a holo. The Base Set Charizard (4/102) and the non-holo Rares in the same set carry the same black star. Since Scarlet & Violet, every Rare in a pack is holofoil, so the question no longer applies to new cards.

Japanese Rarity Codes and Their English Equivalents

Japanese Pokémon cards print rarity as bold letters instead of symbols. Bulbapedia dates the switch to the Japanese Black Collection and White Collection sets of 2010. The codes mostly line up with the English star scale, with one trap: UR means different things in each language.

Japanese code	Japanese name	English rarity
C	Common	Common
U	Uncommon	Uncommon
R	Rare	Rare
RR	Double Rare	Double Rare
AR	Art Rare	Illustration Rare
SR	Super Rare	Ultra Rare
SAR	Special Art Rare	Special Illustration Rare
UR	Ultra Rare	Hyper Rare (the gold cards)
MUR	Mega Ultra Rare	Mega Hyper Rare
MA	Mega Attack Rare	Mega Attack Rare
S / SSR	Shiny / Shiny Super Rare	Shiny Rare / Shiny Ultra Rare
ACE	ACE SPEC	ACE SPEC Rare
BWR	Black White Rare	Black White Rare
FUR	Futuristic Rare	Futuristic Rare

Japanese sets of the Sun & Moon and Sword & Shield eras also used codes the current scale has dropped, such as RRR, HR, CHR and CSR. And the same card doesn't always get the same rarity in both languages, so check the English card list rather than translating the letters.

Pokémon Card Rarity and Pull Rates

The Pokémon Company does not publish pull rates, so every figure below is unofficial. The numbers collectors quote come from large openings. The best known is TCGplayer's Authentication Center, which opened more than 5,000 packs of the Mega Evolution set in 2025. Reported per-pack odds for that set:

Rarity	About 1 in … packs
Double Rare	5
Illustration Rare	9
Ultra Rare	12
Special Illustration Rare	101
Mega Hyper Rare (any)	1,260
One specific Mega Hyper Rare	2,520

The A.V. Club, ComicBook.com and Wargamer tie the Mega Hyper Rare, Special Illustration Rare and Illustration Rare figures to TCGplayer's opening. The Double Rare and Ultra Rare figures were reported alongside them by the A.V. Club and Rare Candy without a named source, so treat them as rougher estimates. Other sets have different rates.

At 1 in 1,260, you would expect about one Mega Hyper Rare per 35 booster boxes (36 packs each) of the Mega Evolution set. Our Pokémon booster box guide lists what each box costs this week.

Does a Rarer Symbol Mean a More Valuable Card?

Usually, but not always. Rarity sets the floor; the Pokémon and the artwork set the price. The median TCGplayer market price of each rarity across the six main Mega Evolution sets (Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames, Perfect Order, Chaos Rising, Pitch Black and Delta Reign), from our price data on 13 November 2026:

Rarity	Cards	Median price	Most valuable
Common	279	$0.13	$0.92
Uncommon	183	$0.13	$1.29
Rare	66	$0.18	$0.49
Double Rare	59	$0.53	$8.06 (Mega Rayquaza ex, Delta Reign)
Ultra Rare	110	$2.03	$21.51 (Lillie's Determination, Mega Evolution)
Illustration Rare	82	$2.81	$31.02 (Kecleon, Delta Reign)
Special Illustration Rare	39	$31.41	$548.42 (Mega Charizard X ex, Phantasmal Flames)
Mega Hyper Rare	7	$150.46	$251.62 (Mega Rayquaza ex, Delta Reign)

Three things stand out:

Below Double Rare, the symbol barely matters. Commons, Uncommons and Rares all had a median of 13 to 18 cents. Their value is in playing or completing a set, not reselling.
Art beats rarity. In the Mega Evolution set, Ultra Rares were reportedly pulled less often than Illustration Rares (about 1 in 12 packs against 1 in 9), yet across the six sets their median price was lower: $2.03 against $2.81.
The rarest card in a set is not always the most valuable. In Phantasmal Flames, the Special Illustration Rare Mega Charizard X ex (125/094) had a market price of $548.42, about three times the $183.66 of the gold Mega Hyper Rare of the same Pokémon (130/094), the set's only Mega Hyper Rare. Wargamer reported in December 2025, about two months after the first Mega Hyper Rares came out, that TCGplayer's charts had that gold Mega Charizard X ex down 49% from its launch price.

The same pattern holds in the Scarlet & Violet sets. The six gold Hyper Rares in Destined Rivals had a median of $13.95 on 13 November 2026, while the set's Special Illustration Rares had a median of $41.84. The most valuable Scarlet & Violet card in our data is a Special Illustration Rare: the Prismatic Evolutions Umbreon ex, at $1,186.84 on 9 November 2026. Our Prismatic Evolutions chase cards guide covers that set.

Rarity labels of the most valuable cards today

The ten most valuable English Pokémon cards on TCGplayer, with the rarity TCGplayer gives each. The table is rebuilt weekly from market data.

TCGplayer market prices for ungraded English cards, updated November 9, 2026. We scan every set on TCGplayer (221 sets, 27,003 priced cards) and rank by the card's most valuable printing. Links to TCGplayer are affiliate links.

#	Card	Set	Printing	Price
1	Latias & Latios GX (Alternate Full Art) SM - Team Up · 170/181 · Ultra Rare · Holofoil	SM - Team Up	Holofoil	$4,620
2	Mew 30th Celebration · R/RGB · RGB Rare · Holofoil	30th Celebration	Holofoil	$4,492
3	Mew 30th Celebration · B/RGB · RGB Rare · Holofoil	30th Celebration	Holofoil	$4,264
4	Umbreon (H29) Aquapolis · H29/H32 · Holo Rare · Holofoil	Aquapolis	Holofoil	$3,850
5	Mew 30th Celebration · G/RGB · RGB Rare · Holofoil	30th Celebration	Holofoil	$3,164
6	Groudon Star EX Delta Species · 111/113 · Ultra Rare · Holofoil	EX Delta Species	Holofoil	$3,000
7	Charizard Skyridge · 146/144 · Secret Rare · Reverse Holofoil	Skyridge	Reverse Holofoil	$3,000
8	Lucario Rumble · 12 · Promo · Normal	Rumble	Normal	$2,998
9	Lugia EX (Team Plasma) (134 Full Art) Plasma Storm · 134/135 · Ultra Rare · Holofoil	Plasma Storm	Holofoil	$2,717
10	Lugia ex EX Unseen Forces · 105/115 · Ultra Rare · Holofoil	EX Unseen Forces	Holofoil	$2,500

When we wrote this guide (prices of 9 November 2026), the top ten held an EX-era Gold Star (Groudon Star) and Pokémon-ex (Lugia ex), two e-Card era cards (the Skyridge Charizard secret rare and an Aquapolis Umbreon holo), a Team Up alternate-art full art, a Plasma Storm full-art Lugia-EX, a Pokémon Rumble promo and the three RGB Rare Mew cards, the only cards from a 2026 set. The weekly refresh may have reshuffled it since. TCGplayer files Gold Star cards and full arts under "Ultra Rare", a store label rather than the symbol printed on the card. The full top 50, and the record auction sales, are in our list of the most expensive Pokémon cards.

How to Read a Pokémon Card's Rarity in 30 Seconds

Find the card number at the bottom of the card: bottom left on cards from 2017 onward, bottom right on older cards.
Read the symbol right after it. Circle, diamond or one black star means Common, Uncommon or Rare.
Count the stars and check their colour. Two black stars is Double Rare, two silver Ultra Rare, gold stars are the illustration and hyper tiers, and a gold four-pointed star outlined in black is a Mega Hyper Rare.
Compare the number with the set size. If the card number is higher than the set total (such as 130/094), it is one of the set's secret cards, above the main set.
Check the price, not just the rarity. A gold star tells you the card was hard to pull, not what it sells for. Our Charizard, Umbreon and Mew card guides list every printing of those Pokémon with its current price.

If you're keeping your best pulls, our guide to the best Pokémon card binders covers the side-loading binders that protect full-art cards.

Conclusion: Count the Stars, Then Check the Price

On a modern Pokémon card, the symbol after the card number tells you almost everything: black shapes for the everyday cards, black and silver stars for the Pokémon ex tiers, gold stars for the illustration and gold cards, and a black-outlined gold star for the Mega Hyper Rare at the top of the Mega Evolution sets.

What the symbol doesn't tell you is value. In November 2026, the best Special Illustration Rares were worth more than the rarer gold cards, and every Common in the six main Mega Evolution sets was worth under a dollar. To see which cards from a set are worth pulling, start with our set pages for Mega Evolution, Phantasmal Flames and Ascended Heroes.