December 23 Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
The short answer
People born on December 23 are Capricorn. On this date the Sun sits between 0.3° Capricorn and 2.6° Capricorn in every year from 1950 to 2025, in the first decan of Capricorn.
December 23 at a glance
| Zodiac sign | Capricorn (December 22 to January 19) |
|---|---|
| Sun position, 1950 to 2025 | 0.3° Capricorn to 2.6° Capricorn (usually 1.5° Capricorn at noon UTC) |
| Decan | first decan of Capricorn: Capricorn (triplicity), Jupiter (Chaldean), Two of Pentacles (Golden Dawn) |
| Element | Earth |
| Modality | Cardinal |
| Ruling planet | Saturn |
| Nearest sign change | About 0.3 days away |
What a December 23 birthday means
On December 23 the Sun sits between 0.3° Capricorn and 2.6° Capricorn in every year from 1950 to 2025, counting every hour of the day in UTC. Its usual noon position is 1.5° Capricorn.
That places December 23 in the first decan of Capricorn. The modern triplicity system gives this decan to Capricorn, the older Chaldean order gives it to Jupiter, and the Golden Dawn tradition pairs it with the Two of Pentacles.
Capricorn is an earth sign of the cardinal modality, ruled by Saturn. Earth signs trust what they can touch, count and build on. Cardinal signs start things: each one opens a season.
December 23 sits close to the boundary between Capricorn and Sagittarius, about 0.3 days away, but in every year charted the Sun was in Capricorn for the whole of this date.
When the Sun changes sign around December 23
Across 1950 to 2025, the Sun entered Capricorn on these dates (UTC):
- December 21: 36 years
- December 22: 40 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 December 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
December: 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
Every date of the year · Capricorn traits · Two of Pentacles
Born on December 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.