The tradition of portraying cards with faces dates from King Charles VII’s court in 1400s France, and many of the first face cards represented specific characters from his court, such as Charles VII, Joan as the Queen of Spades, and La Hire as the Jack of Hearts. Designed to mimic real playing cards — standard playing card size with rounded corners, and a double-ended image so the card always looks right side up (except the Joker). The reverse side of each card has our name, logo, and the year, and a short history of the character. One of the purposes of the playing cards is to help the crowd learn to recognize our characters and symbolism.  

THIS ITEM: Sets of 20 complete “collector packs” in separate fitted cello envelopes (260 total cards), each pack containing one of each of the 13 different 2025 playing cards to hand out on the route as a set, plus an overview card explaining the playing card history and the three "suits," which are Power (gold fleur de lis), Justice (purple scales), and Faith (green cross). Limit 15 sets of 20 to be sold. NEW this year:  Joan's Sword, featuring the church of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois and the story of Joan's sword being found there, Suffragists, a new element of our parade in the Legacy battalion, representing the many women's suffrage leaders who costumed as Joan of Arc and used her as a symbol, and Jean Brehal featuring Notre Dame de Paris. Jean Brehal was the Inquisitor General of France who spearheaded the re-trial that cleared Joan's name. Brehal's card features a medieval image of Notre Dame cathedral, a prop in our parade and one of the key sites where the trial took place. Our Notre Dame parade prop debuted in the Restoration Battalion the year of the Notre Dame fire. This year we celebrate Notre Dame's restoration and re-opening, and our prop artists will add to the prop a steeple like the one on the newly restored real Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. New last year: Christine de Pizan, medieval French poet who wrote about Joan, La Hire, Joan's fiercest fighter and the original Jack of Hearts, Hector de Gallard, a soldier of Joan's and the original Jack of Diamonds. Returning classics: Flaming Heretic, Joanie on the Pony, St. Margaret, St. Michael, and "Warrior Spirit." The "Warrior Spirit" shows Joan in her armor on one end -- flip it upside down and it's a modern female soldier. The notes on the back celebrate all warriors who bravely choose not feel powerless but instead fight for their causes, including the REAL women soldiers who will be walking in our parade this year in our new Legacy section, the Warrior Women group from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post! Note that King and Queen cards are included in these sets, but are not available in single image sets since they are handed out primarily by the King and Queen.

Other options for playing cards:

• Krewe members may also purchase packages of 20 playing cards of a single design.  This is ideal for adding a relevant explanatory card to enhance your own throws, or to hand out on its own to represent your character or your battalion. 
• Included free with full membership, full members will receive ONE souvenir pack with one of each of this year’s playing cards. 
• The Keepsake Package available for purchase also includes ONE collector souvenir pack with one of each of this year’s playing cards.