Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
- Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
- Cardinalis, genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
- Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, the common cardinal of eastern North America
- Pyrrhuloxia or desert cardinal, Cardinalis sinuatus, found in southwest North America
- Vermilion cardinal, Cardinalis phoeniceus, found in Colombia and Venezuela
- Cardinal (Catholic Church), a senior official of the Catholic Church
- Cardinal Health, a health care services company
- Cardinal number
- Cardinal direction, one of the four primary directions: north, south, east, and west
- Cardinal (TV series), a 2017 Canadian television series
- Arizona Cardinals, an American professional football team
- St. Louis Cardinals, an American professional baseball team
Cardinal or The Cardinal may also refer to:
Birds
- Paroaria, a South American genus of birds in the family Thraupidae commonly called red-headed cardinals or cardinal-tanagers
- Yellow cardinal, Gubernatrix cristata a South American bird in the family Thraupidae
- Cardinal, Manitoba, Canada
- Cardinal, Ontario, Canada
- Cardinal High School (Middlefield, Ohio), a public high school in Middlefield, Ohio, Geauga County, United States
- Cardinal Mountain, a summit in California
- Cardinal Power Plant, a power plant in Jefferson County, Ohio
- Cardinal, Virginia, United States
- C/2008 T2 (Cardinal), a comet
- Assindia Cardinals, an American football club from Essen, Germany
- Ball State Cardinals, the athletic teams of Ball State University
- Cardenales de Lara, a Venezuelan baseball team
- Catholic University Cardinals, the athletic teams of the Catholic University of America
- Front Royal Cardinals, an American baseball team
- Incarnate Word Cardinals, the athletic teams of the University of the Incarnate Word
- Lamar Cardinals, the athletic teams of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, USA
- Louisville Cardinals, the athletic teams of University of Louisville
- Mapúa Cardinals, the athletic teams of Mapúa University
- North Central Cardinals, the athletic teams of North Central College
- St. John Fisher Cardinals, the athletic teams of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY
- Stanford Cardinal, the athletic teams of Stanford University; named for the color but not the bird
- Wesleyan Cardinals, the athletic teams of Wesleyan University
- West Perth Football Club, an Australian rules football club in Western Australia
- Woking F.C., an English football team