Your sign, plus a chart of the years 1924–2031

Chinese zodiac calculator

Enter your date of birth to find your Chinese zodiac animal, its element and whether you are yin or yang. The calculator counts from the exact date of Chinese New Year, so January and February birthdays get the right sign too.

It's the Year of the Fire Horse

Chinese year 2026: from February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027.

Next Chinese New Year: February 6, 2027, the start of the Year of the Fire Goat.

2026 Chinese zodiac: dates and traits

What is my Chinese zodiac sign?

Enter your date of birth. You don't need the time: the year's sign depends only on the day.

Works for dates from January 31, 1900 to December 31, 2100.

When the Chinese year begins

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. New Year falls on the day of a new moon, usually the second one after the winter solstice, so it lands on a different date every year, always between January 21 and February 20. In China it is the Spring Festival, the biggest holiday of the year, celebrated with family for about two weeks.

The animal changes only on New Year's Day. Someone born on February 10, 2026 is still a Wood Snake from 2025, because the Year of the Fire Horse began on February 17, 2026. Charts that simply match an animal to a calendar year get it wrong for everyone born in January and part of February.

New Year's Day is set by the date in Beijing: since 1929 on China Standard Time (UTC+8), before that on Beijing local mean time (UTC+7:45:40). In January and February China is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time, so a new moon that comes after 11 a.m. in New York already falls on the next day in Beijing, and it is the Chinese date that decides the sign.

Chinese zodiac signs by birth year

Find your birth year and open the animal's card to see the element and the date of Chinese New Year for every year from 1924 to 2031. A year lasts until the day before the next New Year, so if your birthday is in January or February, check the date: born before New Year, you have the previous year's sign. Each year number links to its full dates and description.

The five elements

The animal is only half of your sign. Every year also has one of five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water. An element holds for two years in a row, and the full pattern of animals and elements repeats every 60 years. You can tell the element from the last digit of the Chinese year, the year counted from Chinese New Year.

  • Wood

    Years ending in 4 or 5

    Growth, curiosity and cooperation. Wood brings a gardener's patience: it builds slowly, with an eye on what will grow in the years ahead.

  • Fire

    Years ending in 6 or 7

    Passion, courage and a need for action. Fire adds temperament and charisma, along with a tendency to flare up.

  • Earth

    Years ending in 8 or 9

    Stability, common sense and care for the people close to you. Earth steadies every sign and makes it more realistic.

  • Metal

    Years ending in 0 or 1

    Determination, principles and a clear goal. Metal tempers a sign: it adds willpower, but can make it unbending.

  • Water

    Years ending in 2 or 3

    Intuition, flexibility and a gift for persuasion. Water softens a sign and teaches it to go with the flow.

Yin and yang

Every sign also has a polarity. Even years are yang and odd years are yin, so an animal's polarity never changes: the Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Monkey and Dog are always yang, and the Ox, Rabbit, Snake, Goat, Rooster and Pig are always yin. Yang is outward energy: active, direct and quick to start things. Yin turns inward: it is receptive, patient and attentive. Neither is better; in Chinese philosophy the two complete each other.

Which Chinese zodiac signs are compatible

Chinese tradition pairs the signs in three ways. A trine is three animals four years apart, with a similar temperament and values: they get along most easily. Secret friends are six pairs that quietly complement each other. Opposite signs sit across from each other on the zodiac wheel, six years apart, and clash more often, though tradition doesn't forbid them from being together.

Trines

Secret friends

  • Rat and Ox
  • Tiger and Pig
  • Rabbit and Dog
  • Dragon and Rooster
  • Snake and Monkey
  • Horse and Goat

Opposite signs

  • Rat and Horse
  • Ox and Goat
  • Tiger and Monkey
  • Rabbit and Rooster
  • Dragon and Dog
  • Snake and Pig

Want to compare two people by the Chinese and Western zodiac and by numerology? Check the compatibility of two birth dates

The Chinese zodiac is a cultural tradition more than two thousand years old, not a science. We calculate the dates and signs precisely, but read the personality descriptions as food for thought, not as a prophecy.

Frequently asked questions

What is my Chinese zodiac sign?

Your Chinese zodiac sign depends on the year you were born, but counted from Chinese New Year, not from January 1. If your birthday falls between March and December, just find your year in the chart. If you were born in January or February, compare your birth date with that year's New Year, or enter it in the calculator and let it do the work.

When does Chinese New Year start?

Chinese New Year begins on the day of a new moon, usually the second after the winter solstice, so it falls on a different date each year between January 21 and February 20. Chinese year 2026 began on February 17, 2026, and the next New Year falls on February 6, 2027. In China it is the Spring Festival, the most important holiday of the year.

What is the Chinese zodiac sign for 2026?

Chinese year 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. It runs from February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027; the Year of the Fire Goat begins on February 6, 2027. Babies born in that window have the Fire Horse sign.

What is my Chinese zodiac element?

The element is the second part of your Chinese sign, alongside the animal. Tradition knows five elements, and each one lasts two years in a row, so you can tell yours from the last digit of the Chinese year: 0 and 1 are Metal (金, also translated as gold), 2 and 3 Water, 4 and 5 Wood, 6 and 7 Fire, 8 and 9 Earth. The element shades the character: a Fire Horse is more impetuous than an Earth Horse.

Which Chinese zodiac signs are compatible?

Signs from the same trine get along most easily: Rat, Dragon and Monkey; Ox, Snake and Rooster; Tiger, Horse and Dog; Rabbit, Goat and Pig. Tradition also names secret friends: Rat and Ox, Tiger and Pig, Rabbit and Dog, Dragon and Rooster, Snake and Monkey, Horse and Goat. The most friction is expected from opposite pairs, such as the Rat and the Horse.

Which Chinese zodiac sign is my enemy?

Tradition speaks of clashes rather than enemies. Each animal has an opposite sign six years away: Rat and Horse, Ox and Goat, Tiger and Monkey, Rabbit and Rooster, Dragon and Dog, Snake and Pig. These pairs are said to rub each other the wrong way most easily, and a year ruled by your opposite sign is expected to bring forced changes. Your own sign's year, běnmìngnián, is also seen as a testing one. None of this rules out a relationship or a good year.

How is the Chinese zodiac different from the Western zodiac?

Your Western sign depends on the day and month you were born, because it comes from the position of the Sun; your Chinese sign depends on the year, counted from Chinese New Year. A Chinese sign also has one of five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water; Western astrology uses four: fire, earth, air and water) and a yin or yang polarity. The two systems work independently, so you can be a Leo and a Metal Horse at the same time. In a full Chinese horoscope, Ba Zi or the Four Pillars of Destiny, your birth month, day and hour have animals of their own too.

Does my birth time change my Chinese zodiac sign?

No. The year's sign depends only on your date of birth compared with the date of Chinese New Year. The hour gets its own animal only in a full Ba Zi chart: there the day is divided into 12 two-hour periods, from the hour of the Rat (11 p.m.–1 a.m.) to the hour of the Pig (9–11 p.m.).

Your AI forecast for the Year of the Fire Horse

The calculator tells you your sign. In the Sanctuary, AI sets it against the sign of the current year and writes a forecast for you: love, work and money, health, and your lucky months. You get 5 free tokens to start, and a forecast costs 1 token.

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