A Pokémon card’s rarity symbol is the small shape right after the collector number at the bottom of the card. A circle means common, a diamond means uncommon, and a star means rare. Cards from 2023 onward add more: how many stars there are, and whether they’re black, silver or gold, tells you which of the modern rarities you’ve pulled.
The chart below covers the cards in packs today. After it you’ll find the older symbols, Japanese rarity codes and TCG Pocket.
Pokémon card rarity chart
These are the rarities in Scarlet & Violet (2023 to 2025) and Mega Evolution (2025 onward) sets, from most common to rarest.
| Symbol | Rarity | What the card looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Common | Basic Pokémon, no foil unless it’s a reverse holo | |
| Uncommon | Most Trainers and many Stage 1 Pokémon | |
| Rare | Holo art box. Since 2023 every Rare is holo | |
| Double Rare | A regular-art Pokémon ex | |
| Ultra Rare | Full-art Pokémon ex or Supporter, numbered above the set total. The silver stars can almost vanish on light art | |
| ACE SPEC Rare | A powerful Item with a magenta frame and an ACE SPEC banner (from Temporal Forces, 2024) | |
| Illustration Rare | Artwork fills the whole card; a Pokémon that isn’t an ex | |
| Special Illustration Rare | Full-card artwork of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter. Usually the chase cards in a set | |
| Hyper Rare | An all-gold card. Scarlet & Violet sets only | |
| Mega Hyper Rare | An all-gold, etched Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. Replaced the Hyper Rare in Mega Evolution sets | |
| Mega Attack Rare | Pop-art Mega ex with its attack name written large in Japanese (from Ascended Heroes, 2026) |
A few sets had one-off rarities of their own:
- Shiny Rare and Shiny Ultra Rare : hollow gold stars, introduced in Paldean Fates (2024).
- Black White Rare : one black and one white star, only in Black Bolt and White Flare (2025).
- Futuristic Rare: only on the metallic Mewtwo ex and Mew ex in 30th Celebration (September 2026). Bulbapedia describes the symbol as a single star in the card’s main color.
How to tell a Pokémon card’s rarity
- Find the collector number, the “58/102” along the bottom edge. The rarity symbol comes right after it. On cards from before about 2017 that’s in the bottom-right corner; from Sun & Moon onward it’s bottom left.
- Read the shape, count and color against the chart above, or the older chart below if your card is from before 2023.
- Check the number. If it’s higher than the number after the slash, like 215/197, it’s a secret rare, whatever the symbol says. On older cards with a single star, the card itself (EX, GX, V, full art, rainbow or gold) tells you the real tier.
Don’t confuse the rarity symbol with the set symbol. The set symbol is a picture (or, since 2023, a three-letter code in a box) that tells you which expansion the card is from. Every set symbol is listed here.
Rarity symbols on older cards (1999 to 2023)
Until Scarlet & Violet there were only three shapes, and a single star covered everything from a plain holo to a rainbow rare. The color of the star and the card’s design do the rest.
| Symbol | What it means | Where you’ll see it |
|---|---|---|
| Common | Every era | |
| Uncommon | Every era | |
| Rare, holo or not | Every era. On a holo rare only the art box is foil | |
| Rare on a special card: ex, LV.X, Prime, EX, BREAK, GX, V, VMAX, VSTAR, full art, rainbow rare, Radiant, Trainer Gallery | 2003 to early 2023. The star is white because those card designs are dark or foil | |
| Gold Star or LEGEND card | Gold Stars (a ★ after the Pokémon’s name) from 2004 to 2007; LEGEND half-cards in 2010 and 2011 | |
| Shining Pokémon | Neo Destiny (2002). The Shining cards in Neo Revelation use a normal star | |
| A | Amazing Rare | Sword & Shield sets, 2020 to 2022. A rainbow burst with a white “A” |
Some specific cases trip people up:
- Secret rares go back to 2001, when Shining Gyarados was numbered 65/64 and Shining Charizard 107/105. Later ones use a prefix instead, like SV1 (Shiny Vault), TG01 (Trainer Gallery) or GG44 (Galarian Gallery).
- Reverse holos aren’t a rarity. The whole card is foil except the picture, and it keeps the symbol of the normal version.
- Radiant and Shiny Vault cards print a plain white star. Some guides show a special icon for them, but it isn’t on the card.
- ACE SPEC cards from 2012 and 2013 have a white star. The pink star only started with Temporal Forces in 2024.
Symbols that aren’t rarity
- Black star with “PROMO” on it: a promo card, from a collection box, blister pack, event or magazine rather than a booster pack. It has a number but no set total, like SWSH050.
- 1st Edition stamp: the “Edition 1” circle just below the bottom-left corner of the art on cards from Base Set to Neo Destiny. It marks the first print run, not the rarity.
- Regulation mark: a single letter (D, E, F, G, H, I, J) at the bottom left of cards since 2020. It says which cards are legal in tournaments.
- Energy symbol on Basic Energy: since 2023 Basic Energy cards have their Energy type in the bottom-right corner. It isn’t a rarity. Basic Energy has no rarity symbol at all.
Japanese rarity codes
Japanese cards stopped using the circle, diamond and star in December 2010 (Black Collection and White Collection) and print letter codes instead, in the bottom-left corner after the card number. The codes don’t line up with English names, and a couple of them mean the opposite of what you’d guess.
| Code | Japanese name | Closest English rarity |
|---|---|---|
| C U R | Common, Uncommon, Rare | The same. Japanese R cards are always holo |
| RR | Double Rare | Double Rare (Pokémon ex). Earlier: EX, GX and V cards |
| RRR | Triple Rare | VMAX and VSTAR (Sword & Shield era) |
| AR | Art Rare | Illustration Rare |
| SR | Super Rare | Ultra Rare (full art). Earlier: full art |
| SAR | Special Art Rare | Special Illustration Rare |
| UR | Ultra Rare (gold) | Hyper Rare (gold) |
| HR | Hyper Rare (rainbow) | Rainbow Rare, Sun & Moon to Sword & Shield. Not English Hyper Rare |
| MUR | Mega Ultra Rare | Mega Hyper Rare |
| MA | Mega Attack Rare | Mega Attack Rare |
| ACE | ACE SPEC | ACE SPEC Rare |
| BWR | Black White Rare | Black White Rare |
| FUR | Futuristic Rare | Futuristic Rare |
| S SSR | Shiny, Shiny Super Rare | Shiny Rare, Shiny Ultra Rare (in Shiny Star V and Shiny Treasure ex) |
| CHR CSR | Character Rare, Character Super Rare | Trainer Gallery (late Sword & Shield) |
| A | Amazing Rare | Amazing Rare |
| K | Kagayaku (Radiant) | Radiant |
| PR | Prism Star Rare | Prism Star (Sun & Moon) |
| TR | Trainer’s Rare | No English match (alt-art Trainers, 2018 to 2019) |
The trap is the word “Hyper”. On Japanese cards HR is the rainbow card and UR is the gold one. In English, Hyper Rare is the gold card. Japanese SR is also a different card from English Ultra Rare. Go by the code, not the name.
AR and SAR are older than you might think. They first appeared in the Japanese set VSTAR Universe in December 2022, a few months before Scarlet & Violet. In English those cards came out as Crown Zenith’s Galarian Gallery, with a white star rather than gold ones.
Special “high class” sets like Shiny Treasure ex and Terastal Festival ex have no C, U or R cards at all. Cards that would be R or lower in a normal set carry no rarity mark in these packs.
Pokémon TCG Pocket rarity
The mobile game uses its own scale of diamonds, stars and a crown. Unlike the physical game, it publishes its odds (tap “Offering rates” on any pack).
| Symbol | Card | Chance in the 4th / 5th card |
|---|---|---|
| Basic cards | Always the first three cards | |
| Evolutions, common Trainers | About 89% / 56% | |
| Stronger Pokémon, key Trainers | 4.952% / 19.81% | |
| Pokémon ex | 1.666% / 6.664% | |
| Full-art illustration | 2.572% / 10.288% | |
| Full-art ex or Supporter | 0.5% / 2% | |
| Immersive art (animated) | 0.222% / 0.888% | |
| 1 or 2 shiny stars | Shiny Pokémon, shiny full-art ex | Only in a bonus 6th card since Mega Rising (October 2025) |
| Gold ex | 0.04% / 0.16% |
About one pack in 2,000 is a “god pack”, where every card is one star or better. Pocket cards can’t be graded or sold, so Pocket rarity has nothing to do with a physical card’s value.
How rare is each rarity?
The Pokémon Company doesn’t publish pull rates for physical packs. Figures you’ll see online, like one Mega Hyper Rare in every 1,260 packs, come from retailers such as TCGplayer opening a lot of packs and counting. They’re good estimates, but they’re not official, and they vary from set to set.
FAQ
What is the rarest Pokémon card rarity?
In current sets it’s the gold card: Mega Hyper Rare in Mega Evolution sets, and Hyper Rare (three gold stars) in Scarlet & Violet sets. Special Illustration Rares (two gold stars) are usually the most valuable cards in a set, though, because they’re the ones collectors chase.
What does a white star on a Pokémon card mean?
On a card from before 2023, it means a rare on a special card design, such as an EX, GX, V, VMAX, full art or rainbow rare. The star is white so it shows up on the dark or foil design. On newer cards, two silver stars (which can look white) mean Ultra Rare.
What do two gold stars mean on a Pokémon card?
Special Illustration Rare: full-card artwork of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter. One gold star is an Illustration Rare, and three gold stars is a Hyper Rare.
What’s the difference between Ultra Rare and Hyper Rare?
An Ultra Rare has two silver stars and is a full-art Pokémon ex or Supporter. A Hyper Rare has three gold stars and is an all-gold card. Hyper Rares are much harder to pull.
Is a reverse holo rarer than a holo?
No. Reverse holos come in almost every pack, and any common or uncommon can be one. A holo rare is the card’s actual rarity. The reverse holo version keeps the normal card’s symbol.
Why does my Pokémon card have no rarity symbol?
Basic Energy cards don’t have one, and neither do cards from some special products, like Dragon Vault, McDonald’s promos and trainer kits. If it’s a promo, look for the black “PROMO” star instead.
Every symbol in these charts was checked against scans of real English cards. Sources: The Pokémon Company, Bulbapedia, TCGplayer, CGC and pokemon-card.com. Spotted a mistake? Tell me and I’ll fix it.