Magic: The Gathering Set Icons and Rarity Colors

The set symbol, also called the expansion symbol, is printed on the right side of the card, below the art and above the text box (Wikipedia). Newer cards also print a set code in the lower-left corner (Draftsim). Photograph both when you want a card identified: the icon tells you the set and the rarity, the code confirms the set.

• Black: common, and basic lands (Wikipedia). Draftsim notes that common icons can also be white.
• Silver: uncommon.
• Gold: rare.
• Red-orange: mythic rare, added with Shards of Alara on October 3, 2008 (Wikipedia).
• Purple: timeshifted cards in Time Spiral, released October 6, 2006 (Wikipedia).

Color coding started with Exodus on June 15, 1998. On cards from earlier sets the icon is black whatever the rarity, so the icon color alone cannot tell you whether a 1994–1997 card is rare.

What each icon depicts, as Wikipedia describes it, with release dates:

• Arabian Nights (December 1993): a scimitar
• Antiquities (March 1994): an anvil
• Legends (June 1994): the capital of a Doric column
• The Dark (August 1994): a thin crescent moon
• Fallen Empires (November 1994): a crown
• Ice Age (June 1995): a snowflake
• Homelands (October 1995): the globe of Ulgrotha
• Alliances (June 10, 1996): a flowing banner
• Mirage (October 7, 1996): a palm tree
• Visions (February 3, 1997): the Zhalfirin Triangle of War, a stylized V
• Weatherlight (June 9, 1997): the Thran Tome, an open book
• Tempest (October 13, 1997): a storm cloud
• Stronghold (March 2, 1998): a portcullis
• Exodus (June 15, 1998): a bridge
• Urza's Saga (October 12, 1998): two gears
• Mercadian Masques (October 4, 1999): a domino mask
• Invasion (October 2, 2000): the symbol of the Coalition
• Odyssey (October 1, 2001): the Mirari on a twisted stand
• Onslaught (October 7, 2002): a four-legged morph creature
• Mirrodin: the Sword of Kaldra
• Kamigawa (October 1, 2004): a torii gate
• Ravnica (October 7, 2005): a Gothic-style church tower
• Time Spiral (October 6, 2006): an hourglass
• Lorwyn (October 12, 2007): an elvish leaf blade with a serrated edge
• Shards of Alara (October 3, 2008): five shards of a plane
• Zendikar (October 2, 2009): a hedron
• Innistrad (September 30, 2011): two stylized outward-facing herons
• Theros (September 27, 2013): a column and arcs
• Khans of Tarkir (September 26, 2014): two crossed scimitars in front of a shield

Limited Edition Alpha (August 5, 1993), Beta (October 4, 1993), Unlimited (December 1, 1993), Revised (April 11, 1994, 306 cards), Fourth Edition and Fifth Edition were printed without a set symbol; the core sets gained one from Sixth Edition onward (Wikipedia). Wizards of the Coast's Gatherer database gives these sets symbols retroactively, and icon fonts such as Keyrune include them, but you will not find them on the card. A Magic card with no icon at all is therefore one of these early core sets, which matters a great deal for value: the record Magic sale is an Alpha Black Lotus in CGC Pristine 10 at $3,000,000 in March 2024 (Wikipedia). See our Black Lotus page.

Two marks near the set icon change what a card is. Draftsim notes that an acorn symbol, used in Unfinity, marks a card for casual play only, and that a small planeswalker symbol marks a reprint that came from The List. Neither is a rarity; both tell you the card is not the original printing.

• Keyrune: a free icon font of Magic set symbols that covers every set and special product up to Reality Fracture and The Hobbit. It groups icons into core sets, expansions, Command Zone, reprint, beginner, Duel Decks, From the Vault, Premium Deck Series, guild kits, supplemental products and promotional or unofficial symbols, and shows each in common, uncommon, rare, mythic and foil colors. Each icon has a short code, such as lea for Alpha, leb for Beta, 2ed for Unlimited, 3ed for Revised, arn for Arabian Nights and atq for Antiquities. The font is licensed under SIL OFL 1.1, the code under MIT, and the symbol artwork remains Wizards of the Coast's.
• Draftsim: a table of Magic sets from Alpha to 2026 releases with each set's symbol and code.

For the value of cards once you know the set, see Magic card prices.

Lay the card flat on a dark surface in daylight and photograph it straight on with the whole card in frame, then take a close-up of the lower edge where the set symbol or set code, the card number and any edition mark sit. Tilt holo cards for a second shot so the foil pattern shows, and photograph the back. For a Magic card, also take a close-up of the strip below the art where the set icon sits and of the lower-left corner where newer cards print the set code. FoilLens reads the card from the photo and shows a market reference; the icon color and set code confirm which printing you have.