Zodiac Sign Calculator by Date of Birth
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Find your sun sign, element and ruling planet. Birthdays on a sign boundary get the exact moment the Sun changed sign.
Quick answer: Your zodiac sign is the sign the Sun was in on your birth date. Enter your birth month, day and year above to get your sun sign. It is free and needs no birth time. For example, the Sun entered Aries on March 20, 2026 at 14:46 UTC, so a birthday on that date can be Pisces or Aries depending on the hour. This calculator checks the actual year and flags cusp birthdays.
Your sun sign (tropical zodiac)
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📐 Formula
Your sun sign is the 30-degree slice of the tropical zodiac that holds the Sun at birth: sign = floor(solar longitude / 30), counted from 0 degrees Aries at the March equinox. The Sun's apparent ecliptic longitude is computed from the date and time with the standard Meeus formula. The sidereal sign is the same longitude minus the Lahiri ayanamsa (about 24.2 degrees in 2026). On a boundary day the calculator finds the moment the longitude crosses a multiple of 30 degrees and compares it with your birth moment.
How to Use the Zodiac Sign Calculator
Choose your birth month and day
Pick the month and day you were born from the two dropdowns. Both are required.
Enter your birth year
Type the year between 1900 and 2100. The year matters because the moment the Sun changes sign shifts by hours from one year to the next.
Add a birth time and UTC offset if you have them
Both are optional. Without them the calculator shows both signs on a boundary day. With them it gives one answer for your birth moment.
Read the result
See your sun sign, the exact entry and exit moments for that sign in your birth year, the element, modality, ruling planet and the sidereal (Vedic) sign.
What is my zodiac sign by date of birth?
Your zodiac sign is the sign the Sun was in on the day you were born. Pick your birth month, day and year above and the calculator works out where the Sun sat along its path and names the sign, its element, its modality and its ruling planet. You do not need a birth time or a birth place for this. Those only matter for your Moon and rising signs, covered further down.
Zodiac signs by date range
This is the table most people mean when they ask for the zodiac signs by date. Each sign covers about 30 days. Some dates are written as "20 or 21" because the Sun does not change sign at the same moment every year, so the table shows the usual range and not a rule. The next sections show why that matters.
| Sign | Symbol | Usual dates | Element | Modality | Ruling planet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | ♈ | Mar 20 to Apr 19 or 20 | Fire | Cardinal | Mars |
| Taurus | ♉ | Apr 19 or 20 to May 20 or 21 | Earth | Fixed | Venus |
| Gemini | ♊ | May 20 or 21 to Jun 20 or 21 | Air | Mutable | Mercury |
| Cancer | ♋ | Jun 20 or 21 to Jul 22 or 23 | Water | Cardinal | Moon |
| Leo | ♌ | Jul 22 or 23 to Aug 22 or 23 | Fire | Fixed | Sun |
| Virgo | ♍ | Aug 22 or 23 to Sep 22 or 23 | Earth | Mutable | Mercury |
| Libra | ♎ | Sep 22 or 23 to Oct 22 or 23 | Air | Cardinal | Venus |
| Scorpio | ♏ | Oct 22 or 23 to Nov 21 or 22 | Water | Fixed | Mars, Pluto |
| Sagittarius | ♐ | Nov 21 or 22 to Dec 21 or 22 | Fire | Mutable | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | ♑ | Dec 21 or 22 to Jan 19 or 20 | Earth | Cardinal | Saturn |
| Aquarius | ♒ | Jan 19 or 20 to Feb 18 or 19 | Air | Fixed | Saturn, Uranus |
| Pisces | ♓ | Feb 18 or 19 to Mar 20 | Water | Mutable | Jupiter, Neptune |
The tropical zodiac starts at the March equinox, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. That point is 0 degrees Aries every year. Each sign is the next 30-degree step along the Sun's yearly path, so Taurus starts at 30 degrees, Gemini at 60, and so on around to Pisces at 330.
Why a date table gets cusp birthdays wrong
A fixed date table treats every year the same. The real Sun does not. A year is about 365.24 days, so the moment the Sun enters each sign slips later by roughly six hours a year, then jumps back at each leap year. Here are the moments the Sun entered Capricorn, in UTC, as this calculator works them out: December 22 at about 03:27 in 2023, December 21 at about 09:14 in 2024, December 21 at about 15:02 in 2025, December 21 at about 20:49 in 2026 (the Naval Observatory lists 20:50), and December 22 at about 02:37 in 2027. Same sign, and the start date moves between the 21st and the 22nd.
The second problem is the clock. The Sun enters a sign at one instant for the whole planet, but the calendar date depends on where you stand. Two babies born at the same moment can have different birthdays.
Worked example: born near the March equinox in 2026
The US Naval Observatory lists the March 2026 equinox at 14:46 UTC on March 20. That is the moment the Sun entered Aries. A baby born in Sydney at 1:00 a.m. on March 21, 2026 (UTC+11, daylight saving) was born at 14:00 UTC on March 20, which is 46 minutes before the Sun entered Aries. That baby is a Pisces, even though a date chart that starts Aries on March 21 would say Aries. A baby born in London at 6:00 p.m. on March 20 (UTC+0) was born at 18:00 UTC, after the equinox, and is an Aries. Enter either birthday above, with the birth time and offset, and the result follows the Sun, not the table. The calculator's own formula puts the equinox at 14:37 UTC, within the 10-minute tolerance stated below.
Worked example: born on December 21, 2026
The Sun enters Capricorn on December 21, 2026 at about 20:50 UTC (the Naval Observatory lists the solstice at 20:50; the calculator gives 20:49). Someone born in New York at 2:00 p.m. that day (UTC-5, so 19:00 UTC) was born before the Sun entered Capricorn and is a Sagittarius. Someone born in New York at 8:00 p.m. (01:00 UTC on December 22) is a Capricorn, although both share the same calendar birthday. A table that starts Capricorn on December 22 would call both of them Sagittarius.
What if I was born on the cusp?
If your birthday sits on a sign boundary, you have a "cusp" birthday. Astrologers do not treat you as half of each sign: the Sun was in one sign or the other at the moment you were born, and the sun sign is whichever it was. The calculator flags a cusp day, names both signs and shows the moment the Sun changed sign, so you can compare it with your birth time. The best sources for your birth time are a birth certificate or hospital record.
With only a date, any birthday within about a day and a half of a boundary can be either sign, because the same date lasts 26 hours across the world's time zones. That is why the tool asks for an optional UTC offset. With the offset it works out which sign applied on your local calendar day. With the birth time as well it gives one answer.
What is my zodiac sign if I was born in a given month?
Search suggestions often ask "what is my zodiac sign if I was born in October" or in any other month. Every month holds two signs, with a changeover day in the second half of the month. Born before that day you have the earlier sign; on or after it, the later one. For the exact answer on the changeover day, use the calculator with your year and birth time.
| Birth month | Early in the month | Late in the month | Changeover day |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Capricorn | Aquarius | Jan 19 or 20 |
| February | Aquarius | Pisces | Feb 18 or 19 |
| March | Pisces | Aries | Mar 20 |
| April | Aries | Taurus | Apr 19 or 20 |
| May | Taurus | Gemini | May 20 or 21 |
| June | Gemini | Cancer | Jun 20 or 21 |
| July | Cancer | Leo | Jul 22 or 23 |
| August | Leo | Virgo | Aug 22 or 23 |
| September | Virgo | Libra | Sep 22 or 23 |
| October | Libra | Scorpio | Oct 22 or 23 |
| November | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Nov 21 or 22 |
| December | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Dec 21 or 22 |
Tropical vs sidereal: Vedic, Hindu and Indian zodiac signs
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, fixed to the seasons. Vedic astrology, used in India and widely among Hindu readers, uses the sidereal zodiac, fixed to the stars. The two started in the same place about 1,700 years ago. Earth's axis wobbles in a 26,000-year cycle, so the seasons have since slid backwards against the stars. The gap is called the ayanamsa, and the Lahiri value used in India is about 24 degrees today.
That is nearly a full sign, so a sidereal sun sign usually reads one sign earlier than the tropical one, except in the last six days or so of each tropical sign. A tropical Leo born in mid-August is typically a sidereal Cancer. The result box shows your sidereal sign next to your tropical one. For the sign the Moon was in, which is the sign Vedic charts rely on most, use the Vedic astrology calculator.
Sun, Moon and rising: what you can know without a birth time
Your sun sign needs only the date, and the Sun moves about one degree a day. Your moon sign needs the date and ideally the time, because the Moon moves about 13 degrees a day and changes sign roughly every two and a half days. Your rising sign, the sign on the eastern horizon at birth, changes about every two hours, so it needs the birth time and the birth place. If you do not know your time of birth, you can still use this page for your sun sign. For the rest, the birth chart calculator explains how each placement is worked out and what to do when the time is unknown.
Elements, modalities and ruling planets
Each sign carries three labels. The element (Fire, Earth, Air or Water) describes the temperament astrologers associate with it. The modality (Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable) describes where it falls in the season: Cardinal signs start a season, Fixed signs sit in its middle and Mutable signs close it. The ruling planet is the planet traditionally linked to the sign. Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces have a traditional ruler and a modern one, because Pluto, Uranus and Neptune were found after the system was set. The table above lists both. Fire and Air signs are usually paired as compatible, as are Earth and Water; the zodiac compatibility calculator goes through every pairing.
Using this calculator in the US, UK, Australia and Canada
The zodiac works the same everywhere, but the words differ. In the US people say zodiac sign or sun sign; in the UK, Australia and Canada, star sign is the more common phrase. All four mean the sign the Sun was in at birth. Date formats also differ: the UK, Australia and most of Canada write day first, so 3/4 means April 3, while the US writes month first. This calculator asks for the month by name, so there is no mix-up. For the UTC offset, use the one in force at your birthplace on your birth date: Eastern Time is UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer, the UK is UTC+0 and UTC+1, and Sydney is UTC+10 and UTC+11.
Other birth-date systems
The Western zodiac is not the only calendar built on your date of birth. The Chinese zodiac calculator gives your animal sign and element, and the Mayan day sign calculator gives your Tzolk'in day sign and tone. If you only want to know how old you are in days or how long until your birthday, the age calculator does that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Enter your birth month, day and year in the calculator. It finds where the Sun was on that date and names your sun sign, element, modality and ruling planet. For most birthdays the usual date ranges give the same answer, but on the first and last days of a sign the result depends on the year and the time of birth, which is why the year is required here.
Yes. A sun sign only needs the date. If your birthday is on a boundary between two signs, the calculator shows both signs and the moment the Sun changed sign, and you can add your birth time and UTC offset to settle it. Your moon and rising signs are different: they need a birth time, and the rising sign also needs a birth place.
Yes. It is free, needs no sign-up and asks for no email address or name. It runs in your browser, so the date you enter is not sent anywhere.
A cusp is a birthday on or near the boundary between two signs. You do not have two signs. The Sun was in one sign at your moment of birth and that is your sun sign. The calculator names both possible signs on a boundary day and the exact moment the Sun crossed, so a birth time can decide which one is yours.
It depends on the year and the hour. The Sun enters Aries at the March equinox, which fell on March 20 in 2023 to 2026 and varies by a few hours each year. Born before that moment you are Pisces; after it you are Aries. In 2026 the equinox was at 14:46 UTC on March 20, so a baby born on that date in the morning, UTC, was a Pisces.
These are solstice dates, so the same rule applies. The Sun enters Cancer at the June solstice and Capricorn at the December solstice, and the exact moment shifts by a few hours each year. In 2026 the June solstice was at 08:25 UTC on June 21 and the December solstice is at 20:50 UTC on December 21. Add your birth time and UTC offset to see which side of that moment you were born on.
No, they shift by up to a day. A year is about 365.24 days, so the moment the Sun enters each sign moves later by about six hours a year and resets at the leap year. A birthday on the 22nd of a month can be one sign in one year and the next sign in another. Date tables show the usual range; this calculator uses the actual year.
Every month holds two signs. The table on this page lists the sign before and after the changeover day for each month. If your birthday is a day or two either side of the changeover, use the calculator with the year, because the changeover can fall on either of two days.
The sun sign is where the Sun was on your birth date, which this page gives you. The moon sign is where the Moon was, and it changes about every two and a half days. The rising sign is the sign on the eastern horizon at birth and changes about every two hours. For the last two you need a birth time, and for the rising sign a birth place too.
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which follows the seasons. Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, which follows the stars, and the two are about 24 degrees apart today. For most birthdays, the Vedic sun sign is the sign before the Western one. The result box shows your sidereal sign alongside the tropical sign so you can compare them.
In everyday use they mean the same thing: the sign the Sun was in at birth, in the tropical zodiac. Star sign is the more common phrase in the UK, Australia and Canada, and zodiac sign in the US. Strictly, a star sign could also mean the sidereal sign, which is why the calculator shows both.
Ophiuchus is a real constellation that the Sun passes through for roughly two and a half weeks each December. The tropical zodiac does not use constellations. It divides the Sun's path into twelve equal 30-degree signs measured from the March equinox, so Ophiuchus has no place in it.
The Sun's position is worked out with a standard low-precision formula from Jean Meeus. We checked it against the US Naval Observatory's equinox and solstice times for 12 years between 1900 and 2100 (48 moments), and the largest difference was 9 minutes. If your birth time is within about 10 minutes of a sign change, treat the result as uncertain.
Sources & Methodology
There is no standards body for astrology, but the astronomy can be checked. The Sun's ecliptic longitude is computed with the low-precision formula in Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms (2nd edition, Willmann-Bell, 1998), chapter 25, which is accurate to about 0.01 degrees. The tropical sign is that longitude divided by 30 degrees. We checked the sign-change moments against the equinox and solstice times published by the US Naval Observatory for 12 years between 1900 and 2100 (48 moments); the largest difference was 9 minutes, and the Observatory publishes its times to the minute.
The sidereal sign subtracts the Lahiri ayanamsa, using a straight-line approximation anchored to 23 degrees 51 minutes 12 seconds on January 1, 2000 and growing 50.288 arcseconds a year, the same approach as our Vedic astrology calculator. Ruling planets and element and modality labels follow the usual Western astrological tradition, which is a cultural convention and not an empirical finding (see the disclaimer above).