King of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

King of Swords upright

A king sits in judgement holding an unsheathed sword. Waite says he recalls the Justice card and stands for the power that office gives. His list: judgement, power, command, authority, militant intelligence, law. Make a clear, fair decision and own it.

King of Swords reversed

Waite reversed gives cruelty, perversity, barbarity, perfidy and evil intention. Be wary of anyone using authority without fairness — including yourself.

A reversed card (What does Upright / reversed card mean?) is one drawn upside-down.

Is King of Swords a yes or no?

Upright: Leans yes. Yes — if the decision is logical and fair.

Reversed: Reversed, King of Swords reads as a gentle no: harshness, abuse of power, cruelty.

The yes/no lean is BornClock’s reading convention drawn from the card’s meaning — Waite himself did not assign one.

Symbolism in the King of Swords card

What appears in the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith picture, as Waite describes it:

• King seated in judgement — Waite: he recalls the Justice card
• Unsheathed sword — the authority of his office

In Waite’s own words (paraphrased)

Upright: judgement, power, command, authority, militant intelligence, law, offices of the crown.

Reversed: cruelty, perversity, barbarity, perfidy, evil intention.

Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). Some of Waite’s 1910 fortune-telling meanings are old-fashioned; the plain-English reading above is ours.