Justice in 7 decks
The same card as 7 decks draw it, five and a half centuries apart. What stays the same is the card’s core; what changes is where a reading can find something new. The meanings are written for the Rider–Waite–Smith picture; the descriptions here are of each deck’s own.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A crowned figure in a red robe sits between two grey pillars before a purple veil, holding a sword point-up in the right hand and a set of scales in the left. The gaze is level and direct. One foot shows beneath the robe, as if ready to stand.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A woman with grey hair sits facing forward in a red cap under a yellow crown, a rope collar at her neck. She holds an upright sword in one hand and a pair of yellow scales in the other. Her grey and blue robe falls over her knees beneath a red cape, and yellow throne posts rise behind her. The card is numbered VIII and titled LA JUSTICE.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A crowned figure in a red robe sits between two grey pillars before a purple veil, holding a sword point-up in the right hand and a set of scales in the left. The gaze is level and direct. One foot shows beneath the robe, as if ready to stand.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A woman with grey hair sits facing forward in a red cap under a yellow crown, a rope collar at her neck. She holds an upright sword in one hand and a pair of yellow scales in the other. Her grey and blue robe falls over her knees beneath a red cape, and yellow throne posts rise behind her. The card is numbered VIII and titled LA JUSTICE.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
Numbered VII, though the site uses it as Justice, a crowned woman with long hair and yellow wings sits facing out. She grips an upright red sword in her left hand and holds a small rectangular object at her chest in her right; no scales are clearly visible.
Visconti-Sforza
Bonifacio Bembo, c. 1450
A fair-haired woman sits on a dark arched throne in a brown gown and blue mantle, holding an upright sword in her right hand and a pair of scales in her left. Above her, against a blue sky over a green field, an armoured knight rides a leaping white horse in an orange patterned caparison, sword raised.
In the Visconti-Sforza deck the number cards show only their suit symbols, and the trumps are unnamed and unnumbered.
Sola Busca
c. 1491
A bearded man seen from behind wears a green helmet with a curled crest and a purple doublet, and holds up a burning red torch. A large pale shield hangs over his hips and a sword hilt shows at his side. The name at the top reads VLIO, its first letter worn, and XI appears twice.
Sola Busca trumps are named figures matched to the standard trumps by number only.
Oswald Wirth
Oswald Wirth, 1889
A woman in a red hat topped with a spiked crown sits enthroned, holding an upright sword in one hand and a pair of scales in the other. Her throne has striped pillars capped with shell shapes and red wing-like panels. She wears a red bodice over a blue gown and a beaded collar. Here the card is numbered 8, with the title LA JUSTICE and the Hebrew letter cheth.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
A woman in a red kimono with a dark patterned sash sits upright on a wooden bench, holding a sword point upward in her right hand and a pair of balance scales in her left. A small tattoo shows at her neck. A red fox sits beside her, lanterns glow on wooden pillars either side, and red petals fall on the tatami floor.