July 23 Zodiac Sign: Cancer or Leo?
The short answer
People born on July 23 can be Cancer or Leo: the Sun changed sign during this date in 38 of the 76 years from 1950 to 2025, sitting between 29.3° Cancer and 1.6° Leo.
July 23 at a glance
| Zodiac sign | Cancer or Leo (conventional tables say Leo, July 23 to August 22) |
|---|---|
| Sun position, 1950 to 2025 | 29.3° Cancer to 1.6° Leo (usually 0.4° Leo at noon UTC) |
| Decan | third decan of Cancer: Pisces (triplicity), Moon (Chaldean), Four of Cups (Golden Dawn); first decan of Leo: Leo (triplicity), Saturn (Chaldean), Five of Wands (Golden Dawn) |
| Element | Water (Cancer) or Fire (Leo) |
| Modality | Cardinal (Cancer) or Fixed (Leo) |
| Ruling planet | Moon (Cancer) or Sun (Leo) |
| Nearest sign change | On this date in 38 of the 76 years |
What a July 23 birthday means
On July 23 the Sun sits between 29.3° Cancer and 1.6° Leo in every year from 1950 to 2025, counting every hour of the day in UTC. Its usual noon position is 0.4° Leo.
That places July 23 in the third decan of Cancer. The modern triplicity system gives this decan to Pisces, the older Chaldean order gives it to the Moon, and the Golden Dawn tradition pairs it with the Four of Cups. In some years the Sun moves on into the first decan of Leo during this date, so both apply.
Cancer is a water sign of the cardinal modality, ruled by the Moon. Leo is a fire sign of the fixed modality, ruled by the Sun.
July 23 is a cusp date. The Sun changed sign during this date in 38 of the 76 years charted, so someone born on July 23 can be Cancer or Leo; the birth year and time decide it.
When the Sun changes sign around July 23
Across 1950 to 2025, the Sun entered Leo on these dates (UTC):
- July 22: 38 years
- July 23: 38 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 July 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
July: 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 July 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.