Are Card Suits Ranked?

[Aedilred]

The ranking will vary by game, yes. The Ace of Spades is traditionally the highest-ranked card in the deck, and is also the one where the maker's logo is (in Britain, at least) printed, by statute law since the 17th century I think.

If I remember correctly, in the "standard" (French) deck, the suits each represent a different class of people: clubs the commoners, diamonds the wealthy, hearts the clergy, and spades the warriors (the aristocracy, essentially). The suits are all adapted from earlier versions and don't carry the obvious symbolism of their modern incarnation. Spades, for instance, were originally swords, hearts were chalices, clubs were something connected with agriculture, and so on.

The knave, queen and king in each suit also represents a historic or mythological figure, with clues in their posture and attire to their identity (albeit fairly abstruse ones) and with a loose thematic connection to their suit. Again, if I remember rightly, the king of spades is Alexander the Great, hearts Charlemagne, diamonds Julius Caesar, and clubs King David. Sir Lancelot features as one of the knaves (clubs?)