Zodiac Sign Calculator
Find your star sign from your date of birth, with its element, quality and ruling planet — plus your Chinese zodiac animal and element, and your birthstone.
- Free, no sign-up
- Private — runs in your browser
- Instant results
Enter your details
The twelve signs and their dates
| Sign | Dates | Element | Quality | Ruler |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | 21 Mar – 19 Apr | Fire | Cardinal | Mars |
| Taurus | 20 Apr – 20 May | Earth | Fixed | Venus |
| Gemini | 21 May – 20 Jun | Air | Mutable | Mercury |
| Cancer | 21 Jun – 22 Jul | Water | Cardinal | Moon |
| Leo | 23 Jul – 22 Aug | Fire | Fixed | Sun |
| Virgo | 23 Aug – 22 Sep | Earth | Mutable | Mercury |
| Libra | 23 Sep – 22 Oct | Air | Cardinal | Venus |
| Scorpio | 23 Oct – 21 Nov | Water | Fixed | Mars, Pluto |
| Sagittarius | 22 Nov – 21 Dec | Fire | Mutable | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | 22 Dec – 19 Jan | Earth | Cardinal | Saturn |
| Aquarius | 20 Jan – 18 Feb | Air | Fixed | Saturn, Uranus |
| Pisces | 19 Feb – 20 Mar | Water | Mutable | Jupiter, Neptune |
Why sources disagree about the dates by a day
You will find charts giving Aries as starting on 20 March and others on 21 March, and both are defensible. The signs are defined by the sun's position along the ecliptic, not by the calendar, and the moment the sun crosses from one sign into the next drifts by roughly six hours a year before being pulled back by the leap day.
That means the changeover can genuinely fall on either of two calendar dates depending on the year and on your time zone. If you were born within a day of a boundary — on a "cusp" — the only way to settle it is to check the exact time the sun changed sign in your birth year and location.
This calculator uses the conventional fixed dates shown in the table, which is what almost every popular source uses and which is correct for the large majority of birthdays.
The Chinese zodiac runs on a different clock
The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each year in a twelve-year cycle, combined with one of five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal and water — which changes every two years. The two cycles together produce a sixty-year sequence before any combination repeats.
The important caveat is that the Chinese year begins at Lunar New Year, which falls between 21 January and 20 February, not on 1 January. Anyone born in January or early February belongs to the previous animal year. This calculator uses the Gregorian year, so if your birthday falls in that window, check the actual Lunar New Year date for your birth year.
Birthstones
Modern birthstones are assigned by calendar month rather than by sign, and the list used here is the widely adopted modern one. Older traditional lists differ — and some months have more than one accepted stone — so a different jeweller may quote you a different gem for the same month.
Frequently asked questions
What is my zodiac sign?
Enter your date of birth above. The calculator returns your sun sign along with its element, quality and ruling planet, plus your Chinese zodiac animal and element.
What does it mean to be born on the cusp?
It means your birthday falls within a day or so of the boundary between two signs. Because the sun's crossing point shifts slightly each year, a cusp birthday can genuinely belong to either sign depending on the year and time of birth.
Why do different websites give different zodiac dates?
The signs follow the sun's position, not the calendar. The changeover drifts about six hours per year and is reset by the leap day, so it can land on either of two dates. Most sources round to conventional fixed dates.
Is my Chinese zodiac animal based on my birth year?
Almost — but the Chinese year starts at Lunar New Year, between 21 January and 20 February. If you were born before that date, your animal is the previous year's.
What are the five Chinese elements?
Wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each pairs with the animal cycle for two years at a time, so the full combination repeats every sixty years.