Western astrology · The twelve signs
Zodiac signs: dates, personality and a sign finder
Your zodiac sign is the part of the ecliptic the Sun was passing through on the day you were born, as Western astrology divides it into twelve. What people call “my sign” is, strictly speaking, the sun sign.
Below you can find your sign from your birthday and see all twelve signs with their dates, elements and modalities in one table. Each sign has its own page on personality tendencies, relationships and work.
Find your sign
Pick the month and day you were born to see your sign. The date stays on this page: nothing is saved or sent.
Choose both a month and a day to see the result here.
The twelve signs and their dates
These are the most widely used dates. Select a sign to read about it.
| Sign | Dates | Element | Modality | Ruling planet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Mar 21–Apr 19 | Fire | Cardinal | Mars |
| Taurus | Apr 20–May 20 | Earth | Fixed | Venus |
| Gemini | May 21–Jun 21 | Air | Mutable | Mercury |
| Cancer | Jun 22–Jul 22 | Water | Cardinal | The Moon |
| Leo | Jul 23–Aug 22 | Fire | Fixed | The Sun |
| Virgo | Aug 23–Sep 22 | Earth | Mutable | Mercury |
| Libra | Sep 23–Oct 22 | Air | Cardinal | Venus |
| Scorpio | Oct 23–Nov 21 | Water | Fixed | Pluto (traditionally Mars) |
| Sagittarius | Nov 22–Dec 21 | Fire | Mutable | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | Dec 22–Jan 19 | Earth | Cardinal | Saturn |
| Aquarius | Jan 20–Feb 18 | Air | Fixed | Uranus (traditionally Saturn) |
| Pisces | Feb 19–Mar 20 | Water | Mutable | Neptune (traditionally Jupiter) |
Boundary dates shift by about a day
The sign dates divide the Sun’s path (the ecliptic) into twelve 30-degree sections, counted from the March equinox point. The moment the Sun crosses from one section into the next moves by a few hours each year, and with leap years and time zones that adds up to about a day either way.
So if you were born on the first or last day of a sign, you may belong to the neighboring sign depending on your birth year and time. That is also why the dates differ by a day between websites; this table follows the most common ones.
The twelve sections no longer match the constellations in the night sky, either. The slow wobble of Earth’s axis has moved the equinox point for more than two thousand years, so during the Aries dates today the Sun actually stands in front of the constellation Pisces.
The four elements
Astrology sorts the twelve signs into four elements of three signs each. The element works like the basic temperature at which a sign meets the world.
Fire signs
Fire signs are described through enthusiasm and self-expression. They are pictured as quick to act and to warm a room, and quick to tire of waiting and routine.
Earth signs
Earth signs are described through realism and steadiness. They are pictured as valuing visible results and security, and as careful in the face of change.
Air signs
Air signs are described through ideas and conversation. They are pictured as linking people and thoughts with a light touch, sometimes with words running ahead of feelings.
Water signs
Water signs are described through emotion and empathy. They are pictured as reading moods and unspoken feelings well, and as holding on to hurt for a long time.
The three modalities
Within each element, signs are also cardinal, fixed or mutable, depending on where they fall in the season. The modality is read as a way of starting, keeping or changing things.
Cardinal
Cardinal signs open a season, so they are described as initiators: setting a direction and stepping forward first.
Fixed
Fixed signs sit in the middle of a season, so they are described as keepers: holding on to what has been decided and seeing it through.
Mutable
Mutable signs close a season, so they are described as adapters: adjusting and changing course as the situation shifts.
How the elements are said to get along
Astrology says signs of the same element understand each other easily, and that elements which feed each other, fire with air and earth with water, get along well too. The picture is of wind fanning a flame and water helping earth grow something.
Opposite signs (six apart, like Aries and Libra) are pictured as drawn to each other and learning a lot from each other. Please treat all this as something to chat about: the way two people treat each other shapes a relationship far more than their birthdays.
East Asian saju and Western signs: what is the difference?
Western astrology splits people into twelve by one thing: where the Sun was on their birthday. Two people born in the same year a month apart can have different signs, and the signs change around the same dates every year.
Saju reads eight characters for the year, month, day and hour of birth in the sixty-term cycle, and the zodiac animal looks only at the year’s branch. Saju changes the animal at Ipchun in early February, while everyday use often goes by the Lunar New Year. The two traditions start from different points and calculations, so their results cannot be matched to each other.
What research says
Zodiac signs are a long-standing cultural tradition to enjoy. Scientific studies have not found that sun signs predict personality. If you would like to measure your current tendencies from your own answers, try one of these tests. It does not mean their results line up with your sign.
More personality lore: blood types
In Japan and Korea, blood type personality ("Type A is meticulous, Type B goes their own way") is as familiar as star signs. See how the four types are described and where the idea came from.
See blood type personalityZodiac signs: frequently asked questions
How do I find my zodiac sign?
All you need is your birth month and day: look it up in the table above or in the sign finder. Someone born on April 5 is Aries, and someone born on August 30 is Virgo. The year does not matter, except that a birthday on a sign’s first or last day can fall in the neighboring sign in some years.
Why do sign dates differ by a day between websites?
Because the moment the Sun moves into the next sign shifts by a few hours from year to year. With leap years and time zones on top, that can move the boundary by a day depending on which year a table is based on. This page uses the most widely printed dates.
Why are there twelve zodiac signs?
Because astrology divides the Sun’s yearly path, the ecliptic, into twelve equal 30-degree sections. Other constellations such as Ophiuchus also lie across that path in the real sky, but the twelve signs are sections rather than constellations, so astrology has no thirteenth sign.
Are zodiac signs related to MBTI types?
There is no evidence that they are. MBTI sorts preferences from your answers to questions, while a sign is a cultural symbol set by your birthday, so the two start from entirely different places. People of the same sign come out as every MBTI type.
This page reads Western astrology’s sign descriptions as culture and entertainment. One person in twelve shares each sun sign, so a sign cannot define a personality or a relationship. Base important decisions about health, money or relationships on facts and professional advice.
How to use this content
- This page is reference content for self-understanding and light interpretation, not a diagnostic or evaluative tool.
- It should not replace medical, legal, financial, or hiring decisions, and important choices need stronger evidence than a self-test.
- Use the result for reflection or entertainment only, and seek professional support first when distress or risk is involved.