August 17 Zodiac Sign: Leo
The short answer
People born on August 17 are Leo. On this date the Sun sits between 23.2° Leo and 25.5° Leo in every year from 1950 to 2025, in the third decan of Leo.
August 17 at a glance
| Zodiac sign | Leo (July 23 to August 22) |
|---|---|
| Sun position, 1950 to 2025 | 23.2° Leo to 25.5° Leo (usually 24.4° Leo at noon UTC) |
| Decan | third decan of Leo: Aries (triplicity), Mars (Chaldean), Seven of Wands (Golden Dawn) |
| Element | Fire |
| Modality | Fixed |
| Ruling planet | Sun |
| Nearest sign change | About 4.5 days away |
What an August 17 birthday means
On August 17 the Sun sits between 23.2° Leo and 25.5° Leo in every year from 1950 to 2025, counting every hour of the day in UTC. Its usual noon position is 24.4° Leo.
That places August 17 in the third decan of Leo. The modern triplicity system gives this decan to Aries, the older Chaldean order gives it to Mars, and the Golden Dawn tradition pairs it with the Seven of Wands.
Leo is a fire sign of the fixed modality, ruled by the Sun. Fire signs act first and warm up the room; they need something to aim at. Fixed signs hold steady: each one sits in the middle of a season.
August 17 is about 5 days from the nearest sign change, so the Sun is in Leo on this date in every year charted.
Where these figures come from
The Sun's position was charted at 12:00 UTC on every day from 1950 to 2025, and the start and end of each date were placed on the straight line between neighbouring days, which is exact to a small fraction of a degree. The range covers every hour of August 17 in UTC across all 76 years; someone born far from UTC can sit up to about half a degree beyond it. Decans follow two traditional systems: the triplicity system, which gives each third of a sign to the three signs of its element in turn, and the older Chaldean order of faces, which runs through the seven classical planets from Mars at the start of Aries.
Other birthdays
August: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Born on August 17? Vera reads the whole chart, not just the Sun.
Your Sun sign is one line of your chart. Vera casts the rest from your birth time and place, then answers what you actually want to know.