Pokemon Card Set Symbols

Use this handy guide to look up Pokemon card set symbols, set names, and set years.

Pokemon card set symbols

The most common way to organize Pokemon cards is by set. To identify the set, look for a little symbol at the bottom of the card, next to the card number. There are a bunch of these set symbols… 5-6 sets are released every year, each with a different set symbol, and they’ve been printing cards since 1999!

The following table is a complete list of Pokemon card sets, sorted by date… the newest sets are at the top… the oldest are at the bottom. If I missed something, let me know if the comments! I want this to be THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR POKEMON CARD SETS!

Scarlet & Violet Series
Scarlet & Violet 151© 2023Scarlet & Violet 151 MEW set symbol
Obsidian Flames© 2023Pokemon Obsidian Flames Set Symbol
Paldea Evolved© 2023Pokemon Paldea Evolved Set Symbol
Scarlet & Violet© 2023Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Set Symbol
Sword & Shield Series
Crown Zenith© 2023Pokemon Crown Zenith Set Symbol
Silver Tempest© 2022
Lost Origin© 2022Pokemon Lost Origin Set Symbol
Pokemon GO© 2022Pokemon GO Set Symbol
Astral Radiance© 2022Pokemon Astral Radiance Set Symbol
Brilliant Stars© 2022Pokemon Brilliant Stars Set Symbol
Fusion Strike© 2021Pokemon Fusion Strike Set Symbol
Celebrations© 2021
Celebrations Classic Collection© 2021
Evolving Skies© 2021
Chilling Reign© 2021
Battle Styles© 2021Pokemon Battle Styles Set Symbol
Shining Fates© 2021Pokemon Shining Fates Set Symbol
Vivid Voltage© 2020Pokemon Vivid Voltage set symbol
Champion's Path© 2020Pokemon Champion's Path set symbol
Darkness Ablaze© 2020Pokemon Darkness Ablaze set symbol
Rebel Clash© 2020Pokemon Rebel Clash set symbol
Sword & Shield© 2020Sword & Shield Pokemon set symbol
Sun & Moon Series
Cosmic Eclipse© 2019Cosmic Eclipse Pokemon set symbol
Hidden Fates© 2019Hidden Fates Pokemon set symbol
Unified Minds© 2019Pokemon Sun and Moon Unified Minds set symbol
Unbroken Bonds© 2019Unbroken Bonds Pokemon card set symbol
Detective Pikachu© 2019Pokemon Detective Pikachu Set Symbol
Team Up© 2019Pokemon Team Up Set Symbol
Lost Thunder© 2018Lost Thunder Pokemon Set Symbol
Dragon Majesty© 2018Dragon Majesty Pokemon Set Symbol
Celestial Storm© 2018Sun and Moon Celestial Storm Pokemon card set symbol
Forbidden Light© 2018Sun and Moon Forbidden Light Pokemon card set symbol
Ultra Prism© 2018Sun and Moon Ultra Prism Pokemon card set symbol
Crimson Invasion© 2017Sun and Moon Crimson Invasion Pokemon card set symbol
Shining Legends© 2017Shining Legends Pokemon card set symbol
Burning Shadows© 2017Sun and Moon Burning Shadows Pokemon card set symbol
Guardians Rising© 2017Sun and Moon Guardians Rising Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Lycanroc & Alolan Raichu© 2017Pokemon Sun and Moon Trainer Kit Lycanroc set symbolPokemon Sun and Moon Trainer Kit Alolan Raichu set symbol
Sun & Moon© 2017Sun and Moon Pokemon card set symbol
Sun & Moon Promos© 2016 - 2020XY Promo Pokemon card set symbol
XY Series
Evolutions© 2016XY Evolutions Pokemon card set symbol
Steam Siege© 2016XY Steam Siege Pokemon card set symbol
Fates Collide© 2016XY Fates Collide Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Pikachu Libre & Suicune© 2016Pokemon XY Trainer Kit Pikachu Libre set symbolPokemon XY Trainer Kit Suicune set symbol
Generations© 2016Generations Pokemon card set symbol
BREAKpoint© 2016XY BREAKpoint Pokemon card set symbol
BREAKthrough© 2015XY BREAKthrough Pokemon card set symbol
Ancient Origins© 2015XY Ancient Origins Pokemon card set symbol
Roaring Skies© 2015XY Roaring Skies Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Latias & Latios© 2015Pokemon XY Trainer Kit Latias set symbolPokemon XY Trainer Kit Latios set symbol
Double Crisis© 2015XY Double Crisis Pokemon card set symbol
Primal Clash© 2015XY Primal Clash Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Bisharp & Wigglytuff© 2014Pokemon XY Trainer Kit Bisharp set symbolPokemon XY Trainer Kit Wigglytuff set symbol
Phantom Forces© 2014XY Phantom Forces Pokemon card set symbol
Furious Fists© 2014XY Furious Fists Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Sylveon & Noivern© 2014Pokemon XY Trainer Kit Sylveon set symbolPokemon XY Trainer Kit Noivern set symbol
Flashfire© 2014XY Flashfire Pokemon card set symbol
XY© 2014XY Pokemon card set symbol
Kalos Starter Set© 2013XY Kalos Starter Set Pokemon card set symbol
XY - Promos© 2013 - 2017XY Promo Pokemon card set symbol
Black & White Series
Legendary Treasures© 2013Black and White Legendary Treasures Pokemon card set symbol
Plasma Blast© 2013Black and White Plasma Blast Pokemon card set symbol
Plasma Freeze© 2013Black and White Plasma Freeze Pokemon card set symbol
Plasma Storm© 2012Black and White Plasma Storm Pokemon card set symbol
Boundaries Crossed© 2012Black and White Boundaries Crossed Pokemon card set symbol
Dragon Vault© 2012Black and White Dragon Vault Pokemon card set symbol
Dragons Exalted© 2012Black and White Dragons Exalted Pokemon card set symbol
Dark Explorers© 2012Black and White Dark Explorers Pokemon card set symbol
Next Destinies© 2012Black and White Next Destinies Pokemon card set symbol
Noble Victories© 2011Black and White Noble Victories Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Excadrill & Zoroark© 2011Pokemon Black and White Trainer Kit Excadrill set symbolPokemon Black and White Trainer Kit Zoroark set symbol
Emerging Powers© 2011Black and White Emerging Powers Pokemon card set symbol
Black and White Base Set© 2011Black and White Base Set Pokemon card set symbol
HeartGold & SoulSilver Series
Call of Legends© 2011Call of Legends Pokemon card set symbol
Triumphant© 2010HeartGold and SoulSilver Triumphant Pokemon card set symbol
Undaunted© 2010HeartGold and SoulSilver Undaunted Pokemon card set symbol
Unleashed© 2010HeartGold and SoulSilver Unleashed Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Gyarados & Raichu© 2010Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver Trainer Kit Gyarados card set symbolPokemon HeartGold SoulSilver Trainer Kit Raichu card set symbol
HeartGold and SoulSilver© 2010HeartGold and SoulSilver Base Set Pokemon card set symbol
HeartGold and SoulSilver Promos© 2010 - 2011HeartGold SoulSilver Promos Pokemon Set Symbol
Platinum Series
Arceus© 2009Arceus Pokemon card set symbol
Supreme Victors© 2009Supreme Victors Pokemon card set symbol
Rising Rivals© 2009Rising Rivals Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 9© 2009POP Series 9 Pokemon card set symbol
Platinum Base Set© 2009Platinum Base Set Pokemon card set symbol
Diamond & Pearl Series
POP Series 8© 2008 - 2009POP Series 8 Pokemon card set symbol
Stormfront© 2008Stormfront Pokemon card set symbol
Legends Awakened© 2008Legends Awakened Pokemon card set symbol
Majestic Dawn© 2008Majestic Dawn Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 7© 2008POP Series 7 Pokemon card set symbol
Great Encounters© 2008Great Encounters Pokemon card set symbol
Secret Wonders© 2007Secret Wonders Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 6© 2007 - 2008POP Series 6 Pokemon card set symbol
Trainer Kit – Manaphy & Lucario© 2007Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Trainer Kit Manaphy set symbolPokemon Diamond and Pearl Trainer Kit Lucario set symbol
Mysterious Treasures© 2007Mysterious Treasures Pokemon card set symbol
Diamond & Pearl© 2007EX Diamond and Pearl Pokemon card set symbol
Diamond & Pearl Promos© 2007 - 2009Diamond and Pearl Promos Pokemon Set Symbol
EX Series
POP Series 5© 2007POP Series 5 Pokemon card set symbol
Power Keepers© 2007EX Power Keepers Pokemon card set symbol
Dragon Frontiers© 2006EX Dragon Frontiers Pokemon card set symbol
Crystal Guardians© 2006EX Crystal Guardians Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 4© 2006 - 2007POP Series 4 Pokemon card set symbol
Holon Phantoms© 2006EX Holon Phantoms Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 3© 2006POP Series 3 Pokemon card set symbol
EX Trainer Kit 2 - Plusle & Minun© 2006Pokemon EX Trainer Kit 2 Plusle card set symbolPokemon EX Trainer Kit 2 Minun card set symbol
Legend Maker© 2006EX Legend Maker Pokemon card set symbol
Delta Species© 2006EX Delta Species Pokemon card set symbol
Unseen Forces© 2006EX Unseen Forces Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 2© 2005 - 2006POP Series 2 Pokemon card set symbol
Emerald© 2006EX Emerald Pokemon card set symbol
Deoxys© 2006EX Deoxys Pokemon card set symbol
Team Rocket Returns© 2004EX Team Rocket Returns Pokemon card set symbol
POP Series 1© 2004 - 2005POP Series 1 Pokemon card set symbol
Fire Red and Leaf Green© 2004EX Fire Red and Leaf Green Pokemon card set symbol
Hidden Legends© 2004EX Hidden Legends Pokemon card set symbol
EX Trainer Kit - Latias & Latios© 2004Pokemon EX Trainer Kit Latias card set symbolPokemon EX Trainer Kit Latios card set symbol
Team Magma vs Team Aqua© 2004EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua Pokemon card set symbol
Dragon© 2003EX Dragon Pokemon card set symbol
Sandstorm© 2003EX Sandstorm Pokemon card set symbol
Ruby and Sapphire© 2003EX Ruby and Sapphire Pokemon card set symbol
e-Card Series
Skyridge© 2003Skyridge Pokemon card set symbol
Nintendo Black Star Promos© 2003 - 2006Nintendo Black Star Promos Pokemon card set symbol
Aquapolis© 2003Aquapolis Pokemon card set symbol
Expedition© 2002Expedition Base Set Pokemon card set symbol
Legendary Collection Series
Legendary Collection© 2002Legendary Collection Pokemon card set symbol
Neo Series
Neo Destiny© 2002Neo Destiny Pokemon card set symbol
Neo Revelation© 2001Neo Revelation Pokemon card set symbol
Southern Islands© 2001Southern Islands Pokemon card set symbol
Neo Discovery© 2001Neo Discovery Pokemon card set symbol
Neo Genesis© 2000Neo Genesis Pokemon card set symbol
Gym Series
Gym Challenge© 2000Gym Challenge Pokemon card set symbol
Gym Heroes© 2000Gym Heroes Pokemon card set symbol
Original Series
Team Rocket© 2000Team Rocket Pokemon card set symbol
Base Set 2© 2000Base Set 2 Pokemon card set symbol
Fossil© 2000Fossil Pokemon card set symbol
Wizards Black Star Promos© 1999 - 2003Wizards Black Star Promos Pokemon card set symbol
Jungle© 1999Jungle Pokemon set symbol
Base Set© 1995 - 2000no symbol, no logo

McDonald’s Pokemon Cards

McDonald’s 2022© 20222022 McDonald's Pokemon Match Battle Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2021© 2021Set symbol for 2021 McDonald's Pokemon 25th Anniversary set
McDonald’s 2019© 2019McDonald's Pokemon Promo 2019 set symbol
McDonald’s 2018© 2018McDonald's Pokemon 2018 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2017© 2017McDonald's Pokemon 2017 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2016© 2016McDonald's Pokemon 2016 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2015© 2015McDonald's Pokemon 2015 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2014© 2014McDonald's Pokemon 2014 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2013© 2013McDonald's Pokemon 2013 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2012© 2012McDonald's Pokemon 2012 Set Symbol
McDonald’s 2011© 2011McDonald's Pokemon 2011 Set Symbol

Do we have something missing or wrong? How could we improve this reference? Please let us know in the comments so we can make this the best possible guide for Pokemon card sets!

120 thoughts on “Pokemon Card Set Symbols”

  1. Good info. This helped me narrow down that a misprint card I have is fake. But it worries me that all my cards have always come from booster packs. So a lot of my cards could be fake. Damn shady comic book stores.

    1. If the cards came from real booster packs then the cards should be genuine… unless it was a fake pack of Pokemon cards… I’ve never seen that before. I’ve just seen reprints of high dollar cards sold online (usually, but not always, marked as “reprint”). All the cards I’ve collected have come from booster packs… I don’t buy individual cards because I’m not that serious about collecting/playing specific cards. I make due with what I get from the packs.

      1. I have this 1999 trainer card with a little meda symbol on it. Came here to see what it meant but cant see it anywhere. Any idea? Thanks in advance

        1. Matthew – It’s hard for me to say without seeing the symbol. Cards from 1999 can be valuable… especially if it’s a Pikachu Trainer No. 1, 2, or 3… these were given out at the winners of the Pokemon World Championships… they fetch 10’s of thousands of dollars! But those cards have a Poke Ball symbol… and that doesn’t sound like the media symbol you describe. It could be a Snap Pikachu Trainer card, that set has a camera symbol, it’s in Japanese so not sure if that’s it. The Snap cards are from 1999 release of the Snap 64 Nintendo game. Players could take snapshots in the game and compete to get their snapshot printed on real Pokemon card with credit to the player that snapped it. I’d have to see a picture of the card to tell you more.

          1. Sad as it may be there are plenty of fake packs out there. Including all the way up till around 2010-2011. I have tons of fake cards from that set time and just like you he’ll had there’s always been fake cards with fake packs they even the store passes off as real because they are unsure at the time and especially getting Shady vendors to know what’s real or not. They just care about the money until lately with people being so specific and threatening everybody. If you look on wish or even online for cheap cheap packs then you can find fakes left and right. Though they are cracked down more on Amazon eBay etc for people scamming than they used to be

  2. Any chance of updating this through to forbidden light? It’s one of the most concise references to set symbols around and it would be great if it could be updated for the laat 5 or so sets!

    1. I just updated it! Sorry for the delay… I’ll try to stay on top of these when new sets are released.

          1. I believe the promos he is talking about are the Black and White promos that came out in 2011 through 2012 with tepig zoroark reshiram etc. i had the same question lol

          2. I had same question but I found them if you scroll to bottom of page there’s a list of all sets a few aren’t at the top in order. Probably just a small coding error. But they have them at the bottom in the list.

    1. I added a bunch of new set symbols for the 2018 sets… I’ll try to keep it up to date. Thanks for the heads up Mal!

  3. Since you included Dragon Vault, Double Crisis, and the Kalos Starter Set

    Where’s Southern Islands, the Pokemon Rumble set, and the POP series?

    1. They’re coming! Each set takes me a few hours to put together. I’m slowly making my way through the remaining Pokemon sets.

  4. this is fantastic adding these to each file of cards as a means of showing each set off with the identifying symbol. this is truly great thankyou

  5. I really like this site! I’ve definitely bookmarked it!

    Any idea if/when you’ll update the original black star promo cards (‘99-‘03)?

  6. Great reference, thanks for keeping this updated as time permits! Really useful for me as a novice player who bought a bunch of random expansion packs and didn’t know how to tell which card was from what expansion!

    1. Are you referring to a little yellow “A” symbol at the bottom of the card? If so, these are “alternate artwork” cards… they are reprints of older cards with new artwork. Usually they also have a card number that involves an “a”… like “55a/111”. Hope that solves the mystery for you!

  7. Does anyone know who buys cards, as ones I have were never used. Taken out of pack and put into sleeves.

    thank you,
    Dawn

    1. You have some options… you can look them up on mavin.io and see what they’re worth. If they’re worth a lot of money you might try to sell them individually on eBay. If you have a big box of mostly worthless cards you could sell they whole lot of them on eBay. Anyway, you can find more info about what to do with your cards (including tips on selling them) in this article. You could also try to sell them on Craigslist or Facebook. Good luck!

    1. Within the past week I added all 9 POP series sets and a few promo sets… I might be missing a few trainer sets though… what am I missing?

      1. Hi Andrew,
        First of all thanks for all of the information on this page. I might have missed it but do you have the EX Trainer Kit 2 Player Starter Set with Latias Latios listed? I think that might be one your missing?
        Many thanks :)

  8. I have a guardian rising card. Letter (white) A in black circle 19a/145 common Alolan Sandshrew. I can’t see to find it? Any ideas?

    1. Tyler – It’s probably the EX Trainer Kit with Latias and Latios… copyright 2004. I just posed the set list here.

  9. I’m trying to organize my cards by set…found i had two sets of cards and im not sure if they’re fake? (neither listed here) One has a set symbol of a yellow Pikachu (30 card set) and one has a symbol of a blue suicune (30 card set). Anyone know what these cards are? Fakes?

  10. Yo, Andrew. The “EX Trainer Kit” isn’t a part of the list, and it has a couple special symbols. I don’t know if it’s left out intentionally, but I found some cards with their odd blue and red card set symbols and just thought I should make note of that. It seems most of these cards are just re-prints of other sets, but the symbol is unique. Here’s the source of info if any of you want to take a look.
    It seems the set had been comprised of two half-decks of Latias and Latios. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/EX_Trainer_Kit_(TCG)

    1. CommanderKohai… you’re right! I need to add the Trainer Deck sets and symbols… they’re unique so I should add them to the list. Thanks for the heads up!

    1. You are correct! The Plasma Storm set was released in February of 2013… but the copyright on the card is 2012. I updated the Pokemon sets table with the copyright symbol and updated the dates to reflect the copyright date, not the year the set was released. Good catch… and thank you!

  11. Hi. Thanks for the info. Its been a great help organizing some cards. However i have a bunch that don’t match the symbols you’ve provided for the dates they were published. I found a couple that match different sets with different symbols. Does this mean that the cards i have are fake? Or is it possible you’ve missed some? They all came from legit booster packs.

    1. Ryan – I just added a bunch of trainer sets… those set symbols tend to have color… as opposed to black/white set symbol for a regular expansion set. Let me know if it’s still on the list of set symbols and I’ll add it.

  12. there is a set missing, i have a card for it, and the symbol looks like a latias facing forward, it’s red, the copyright year is 2015, and there are 30 cards (i think, because mine says 14/30).

        1. also can you add the search bar for the sets back? i really liked that, it made things a lot easier.

          1. Hey Justbrix… Thanks for your feedback! I got rid of the search box when I added the divider rows with the name of the series. These rows mess up the sorting and filtering so I had to remove them. I figured people could do CTRL+F to search the page… but I guess that doesn’t work so well on mobile or when you’re trying to filter the list down eh? I’ll try to figure out how to add the search box back AND keep the divider rows. Again, thanks for helping me make this better!

    1. Hey Stephen… thanks for your comment. I’ve been adding a bunch of sets lately… all the trainer sets, POP sets, McDonald’s sets, etc. I even added Unified Minds… the set latest set that’s yet to be released. Let me know if I’m missing any and I’ll add them.

  13. This is very useful! Seems like the Pokemon website would have this accessible by now, but luckily we have a resource like this. Keep it up!

  14. This site has been a lifesaver helping me organize my collection dating back to original series base set!! Thank you so much! I was wondering if you had an ETA on putting Unified Minds up… I know it’s brand new and take your time, I was just curious. Again, excellent job and thanks!

  15. This was very helpful to use to sort out my cards into sets while getting ready to sell them! Do you possibly know any websites that would be the best to sell individual cards on? Going to be using eBay and possibly Etsy, but was curious about other websites I could post the listing to.

    1. It’s best to only sell the high value cards individually… it’s probably not worth your time to create a listing, respond to buyers, and ship the item if the card is only worth a few bucks. My suggestion would be to sell the high value cards individually… then sell groups of cards as “lots”… for example, package up all the rare/holo cards and sell them as a lot… or sell all the cards from one set as a lot. Good luck!

  16. Thank you so much Andrew…without this site I would of just put my Sons old card collections back in the cupboard. I knew nothing about Pokémon cards 4 months ago, but now have manage to make up sets and have learnt so much, it’s taken hrs but have enjoyed every minute..well done and thanks again

    1. Hey thanks! I’m in the same boat… my son got into Pokemon cards… we’ve had a lot of fun organizing them and looking up values.

  17. I got back into Pokémon last year for the first time since I gave it up in 2001. (I thought I was “too old” for by the age of 12… Well, this year I turn 31, and just look at me now! Haha) I am very particular about having my cards in the right order, and this page was a huge help to me. Thank you so much for taking the time to create this!

  18. Hi, just wondering how assembling the Sword and Shield promo cards is coming, any chance you have the prices posted but not the cards themselves yet?

  19. How about the Sword and Shield promo set? I notice xy and sun and moon both have there promo lists up!

    1. You are correct! They started releasing Sun & Moon Promos in 2016… I mistakenly had 2017 as the start date. It was also showing 2019 as the end date, and I know they were adding Promo cards into 2020. I updated the end date too. When I reviewed the Sun & Moon Promo checklist, I noticed it’s missing some cards, and their many variations… so I’ve added it to my to-do list to update and fill in the missing cards. Thanks a lot for letting me know, I appreciate it!

  20. Thank you SO much for this!
    I am on this site daily, and I really appreciate how much work you have put into keeping this updated!

  21. This has been a HUGE resource for me and I cannot wait for the Chilling Reign set to be posted. Thanks for all that you do!

  22. First of all – just want to say this is AMAZING. It’s helped me organize my collection so much. Thank you for all of your hard work and effort!

    One issue I’m encountering – The “Darkness Ablaze” link is taking me to the Rebel Clash set.

    1. April… Done! And it was posted more than a week before the official set release date! This is based on my best intel… I’ll be updating the set checklist if things change. Thanks for the heads up!

  23. Just wondering if you will be doing Fusion Strike and Brilliant Diamond together? I cannot find the set symbol for Fusion strike anywhere else and your list is always my go to. Thanks for everything you do!

  24. Hey just wondering when you will be updating silver tempest. I can not find the card symbol anywhere. Thanks you for everything you do! It helps so much

  25. The link on this page for Brilliant Stars is broken. It shows the link as /pokemon/sword-shield/brilliant-stars-set-list when the page is actually at /pokemon/sword-shield/brilliant-stars

  26. I’m not sure if this website gets updated often, but I recently started collecting and some of my cards aren’t on any of the lists. I looked them up on the Pokémon website and they say they are from the set Sword and Shield Silver Tempest. Think you can point me to that list if I just missed it on here?

  27. Hi,I was sorting out my Pokémon cards and I found a card that looked like it could be worth something,so I looked at your guide and found that the symbol wasn’t there.I can’t remember where I got it…The symbol kind of looks like a open book and a weird U coming out. Thank you, MJ.

    1. MJ, this list is up to date and fairly complete for Pokemon cards in English. Based on your description of the “open book with a weird U”… could it be the Roaring Skies set?

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