August 23 Zodiac Sign: Leo or Virgo?
The short answer
People born on August 23 can be Leo or Virgo: the Sun changed sign during this date in 59 of the 76 years from 1950 to 2025, sitting between 29.0° Leo and 1.3° Virgo.
August 23 at a glance
| Zodiac sign | Leo or Virgo (conventional tables say Virgo, August 23 to September 22) |
|---|---|
| Sun position, 1950 to 2025 | 29.0° Leo to 1.3° Virgo (usually 0.1° Virgo at noon UTC) |
| Decan | third decan of Leo: Aries (triplicity), Mars (Chaldean), Seven of Wands (Golden Dawn); first decan of Virgo: Virgo (triplicity), Sun (Chaldean), Eight of Pentacles (Golden Dawn) |
| Element | Fire (Leo) or Earth (Virgo) |
| Modality | Fixed (Leo) or Mutable (Virgo) |
| Ruling planet | Sun (Leo) or Mercury (Virgo) |
| Nearest sign change | On this date in 59 of the 76 years |
What an August 23 birthday means
On August 23 the Sun sits between 29.0° Leo and 1.3° Virgo in every year from 1950 to 2025, counting every hour of the day in UTC. Its usual noon position is 0.1° Virgo.
That places August 23 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. In some years the Sun moves on into the first decan of Virgo during this date, so both apply.
Leo is a fire sign of the fixed modality, ruled by the Sun. Virgo is an earth sign of the mutable modality, ruled by Mercury.
August 23 is a cusp date. The Sun changed sign during this date in 59 of the 76 years charted, so someone born on August 23 can be Leo or Virgo; the birth year and time decide it.
When the Sun changes sign around August 23
Across 1950 to 2025, the Sun entered Virgo on these dates (UTC):
- August 22: 17 years
- August 23: 59 years
If you were born near the change, your birth year and time decide your sign: cast your free birth chart to see it.
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 23 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 23? 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.