The calendar of the wheel
Zodiac Sign Dates
The twelve ranges below are the standard tropical calendar used across this site — identical to the dates engraved on every one of our sign guides. But a table is only half the answer: the sun crosses each boundary at an exact moment, not on a date, so boundary birthdays deserve one extra step. Everything is explained below, honestly.
| Sign | Dates | Element |
|---|---|---|
| Taurus | April 20 – May 20 | Earth |
| Virgo | August 23 – September 22 | Earth |
| Capricorn | December 22 – January 19 | Earth |
| Pisces | February 19 – March 20 | Water |
| Aquarius | January 20 – February 18 | Air |
| Leo | July 23 – August 22 | Fire |
| Cancer | June 21 – July 22 | Water |
| Aries | March 21 – April 19 | Fire |
| Gemini | May 21 – June 20 | Air |
| Sagittarius | November 22 – December 21 | Fire |
| Scorpio | October 23 – November 21 | Water |
| Libra | September 23 – October 22 | Air |
Why the dates shift a little every year
A year is not exactly 365 days, and the sun’s path does not divide evenly onto our calendar. The sun enters Aries at the March equinox — a measurable moment that lands on March 19, 20, or 21 depending on the year and where you live. Every other sign entry inherits that drift, which is why published ranges differ by a day here and there. None of the tables is wrong, exactly; they are round numbers standing in for moments.
Time zones add their own wrinkle. The sun may enter Scorpio at 11 p.m. on October 22 in one city and 2 a.m. on October 23 in another. Anyone born near a boundary — within about a day of the listed edge — is computing territory, not table territory.
About “cusp” birthdays
The internet loves telling cusp-born people they are two signs blended. The tradition says otherwise: the sun occupies exactly one sign at any moment, and your sign is whichever one held it when you were born. There is no 60/40 Leo-Virgo hybrid. What a cusp birthday actually means is that the table cannot settle it — the honest response is to compute the sun’s position for your exact date, time, and place.
Free, runs in your browser, computes the sun’s position to the arcminute.
Frequently asked questions
Why do zodiac date ranges vary between websites?
Because the sun doesn't check calendars. The signs are equal 30° segments of the sun's yearly path, and the sun crosses each boundary at a precise moment — usually within a day of the familiar dates, occasionally two depending on the year and your time zone. Sites that print fixed dates without explaining this create false cusps. The ranges below match the tradition's standard tropical calendar; for a boundary birthday, compute the exact moment instead.
What is a cusp? Are cusp signs real?
People born on the first or last day of a range call themselves 'born on the cusp.' In the Western tradition there is no blended sign — the sun sits in exactly one sign at any moment, and whichever side of the boundary you were born on is your sign. What cusps really signal is uncertainty about which side you're on. That uncertainty has an exact fix: run your birth date through a calculator that computes the sun's true position.
Does the leap year change my sign?
It can move the sun's crossing by up to about a day relative to the calendar date. If you were born February 29, or on any boundary day near midnight, your sun sign is worth verifying by calculation rather than by table.
Is my 'real' sign different because of precession?
No — not in this system. Western tropical astrology defines the signs relative to the equinox and solstice points, not the background constellations. The sidereal (Vedic) zodiac starts from the stars and yields different assignments by design. Both are internally consistent traditions; they simply draw the map differently. Your tropical sign is the one used throughout this site.
Found your sign? Read it closely
And if your birthday sits on a boundary, the free birth chart calculator settles it exactly — then the compatibility guides tell you who clicks with whom.