The system has changed, a lot

In the early WOTC era, rarity in Pokémon TCG was beautifully simple: a circle, a diamond, or a star. That's it. Three tiers, one symbol each. Today there are more than a dozen rarity treatments in active rotation, and a few that exist only in specific subsets.

This is a quick visual reference to every rarity symbol you'll encounter, in roughly the order they appeared.

WOTC / e-Card era (1999–2003)

• ● Common — small filled circle, bottom-right.
• ♦ Uncommon — small diamond.
• ★ Rare — small five-point star. Holo and non-holo share the symbol; only the foil treatment distinguishes them.
• ★H, ★W, ★ shadowless — collector annotations, not on-card symbols.

EX through HGSS era (2003–2011)

• ★ still marked rares; sub-tiers were indicated by treatment rather than symbol — EX cards, Gold Star cards, LV.X cards, and Prime cards all carried the star but had distinct on-card designs.

Black & White through XY era (2011–2016)

• ★ for standard rares.
• ★ + gold border for ultra rares (EX, Mega EX).
• ★ + textured foil for secret rares.

Sun & Moon (2016–2019)

• The TAG TEAM and GX mechanic introduced new treatment tiers but kept the underlying ★ symbol. Rainbow Rares, Hyper Rares (gold), and Full Art Trainers all sit above the standard star.

Sword & Shield (2020–2022)

• VMAX, V, V-UNION, V-STAR treatments — all marked with ★ on the card but distinguished by artwork frame and foil.
• Amazing Rare — the multi-color ★A treatment, briefly used.

Scarlet & Violet (2023–present)

• ● ♦ ★ are joined by a layered system: Double Rare, Ultra Rare, Illustration Rare, Special Illustration Rare, Hyper Rare, and the more recent Mega Attack Rare. Each has its own on-card treatment, and many use a stylized version of the classic star.

A practical shortcut

If you only remember one thing: the symbol tells you the base rarity tier. The treatment (full art, illustration art, gold, textured foil) tells you the chase tier. Both matter for value, but the treatment is what drives the secondary market premium on modern cards.