Zodiac signs
Zodiac sign dates
All twelve Western zodiac signs in calendar order, from Aries in March to Pisces in February, with what each sign is made of and how the dates are set.
The 12 zodiac signs and their dates
| Sign | Dates | Element | Modality | Ruling planet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | March 21 to April 19 | Fire | Cardinal | Mars |
| Taurus | April 20 to May 20 | Earth | Fixed | Venus |
| Gemini | May 21 to June 20 | Air | Mutable | Mercury |
| Cancer | June 21 to July 22 | Water | Cardinal | The Moon |
| Leo | July 23 to August 22 | Fire | Fixed | The Sun |
| Virgo | August 23 to September 22 | Earth | Mutable | Mercury |
| Libra | September 23 to October 22 | Air | Cardinal | Venus |
| Scorpio | October 23 to November 21 | Water | Fixed | Mars (modern: Pluto) |
| Sagittarius | November 22 to December 21 | Fire | Mutable | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | December 22 to January 19 | Earth | Cardinal | Saturn |
| Aquarius | January 20 to February 18 | Air | Fixed | Saturn (modern: Uranus) |
| Pisces | February 19 to March 20 | Water | Mutable | Jupiter (modern: Neptune) |
These are the most common dates. Within a day of each change, the sign depends on the birth year and hour. The calculator works it out exactly.
The zodiac year at a glance
- Aries , March 21 to April 19
- Taurus , April 20 to May 20
- Gemini , May 21 to June 20
- Cancer , June 21 to July 22
- Leo , July 23 to August 22
- Virgo , August 23 to September 22
- Libra , September 23 to October 22
- Scorpio , October 23 to November 21
- Sagittarius , November 22 to December 21
- Capricorn , December 22 to January 19
- Aquarius , January 20 to February 18
- Pisces , February 19 to March 20
Elements and modalities
Each sign pairs one of four elements with one of three modalities. The elements repeat in order (fire, earth, air, water), and each season holds one sign of each modality.
Where the dates come from
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac. It splits the Sun’s yearly path across the sky into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees and starts counting at the March equinox, the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. Each part is a sign, and the Sun spends about a month in each.
Because the signs are measured from the equinox and not from the stars, the dates stay with the seasons. Aries always begins around March 20 or 21, Cancer around June 21, Libra around September 23 and Capricorn around December 22.
Why the dates shift by a day
A calendar year has 365 days, but the Sun takes about 365 days and 6 hours to come back to the same point. So each sign begins roughly six hours later each year, and the leap day every four years pulls it back. Time zones add to it: one moment can fall on two different dates in two places.
That is why two tables can disagree about a date like October 23. For a birthday on or next to a change, the year and the hour decide the sign.
Being born on the cusp
People born on one of these changeover days often say they were born on the cusp. In astrology they still have one Sun sign, the one the Sun was in at the moment they were born. Enter the birth year, and the time if asked, in the zodiac sign calculator to see which one.
North and south
The dates are the same everywhere on Earth. The seasons are not. Aries begins at the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, which is why this page names the turning points by month (the March equinox, the June solstice) and not by season.
