Astrology can look like a foreign alphabet the first time you open a birth chart. Tiny shapes ring the wheel, sit next to numbers, and connect with colored lines. Each one is a glyph, a small symbol that saves space and replaces a written word. Once you learn what each shape means, a chart reads less like a puzzle and more like a map. This guide walks through roughly 50 of the symbols you will meet most often, grouped by what they describe.
The 12 zodiac sign glyphs
The most familiar symbols are the 12 signs of the zodiac. Each sign has a glyph, a name, an image it represents, and a stretch of dates when the Sun passes through it. The dates below are the common tropical ranges and shift by a day from year to year, so treat them as a guide rather than a fixed rule. If your birthday sits near an edge, the free sign checker will settle which side you fall on.
| Glyph | Sign | Symbol of | Typical dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| ♈ | Aries | The Ram | Mar 21 to Apr 19 |
| ♉ | Taurus | The Bull | Apr 20 to May 20 |
| ♊ | Gemini | The Twins | May 21 to Jun 20 |
| ♋ | Cancer | The Crab | Jun 21 to Jul 22 |
| ♌ | Leo | The Lion | Jul 23 to Aug 22 |
| ♍ | Virgo | The Maiden | Aug 23 to Sep 22 |
| ♎ | Libra | The Scales | Sep 23 to Oct 22 |
| ♏ | Scorpio | The Scorpion | Oct 23 to Nov 21 |
| ♐ | Sagittarius | The Archer | Nov 22 to Dec 21 |
| ♑ | Capricorn | The Sea-Goat | Dec 22 to Jan 19 |
| ♒ | Aquarius | The Water-Bearer | Jan 20 to Feb 18 |
| ♓ | Pisces | The Fish | Feb 19 to Mar 20 |
Look closely and most glyphs hint at their image. The Aries glyph ♈ traces a ram's curved horns. The Leo glyph ♌ suggests a lion's mane and tail. Libra ♎ shows the level beam of a set of scales, the only sign represented by an object rather than a living thing. Scorpio ♏ ends in a small arrow, the sting in the tail, while Sagittarius ♐ is the archer's arrow itself. You can read the full personality profile behind each one on the sign pages, such as Aries, Leo, Scorpio, and Pisces.
The order of the signs through the year
The signs are not a random list. They follow a fixed order that begins at the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun enters Aries, and runs around the wheel back to Pisces. This is why astrologers call Aries the first sign and Pisces the last. The timeline below shows the rough month each sign opens.
- MarchAries ♈ opens the zodiac at the spring equinox
- AprilTaurus ♉ takes over in mid-spring
- MayGemini ♊ carries late spring
- JuneCancer ♋ begins at the summer solstice
- JulyLeo ♌ rules high summer
- AugustVirgo ♍ closes out summer
- SeptemberLibra ♎ starts at the autumn equinox
- OctoberScorpio ♏ deepens autumn
- NovemberSagittarius ♐ rides into late autumn
- DecemberCapricorn ♑ begins at the winter solstice
- JanuaryAquarius ♒ holds midwinter
- FebruaryPisces ♓ ends the cycle before spring
This yearly march is tied to the Sun's apparent path against the stars, a band that astronomers also recognize. The Britannica entry on astrology traces how this seasonal framework grew out of ancient sky-watching long before modern calendars.
The planet glyphs
After the signs, planets are the next layer of symbols. In astrology the word "planet" is used loosely and includes the Sun and Moon, which are really a star and a satellite. Each one has a glyph built from three simple parts: a circle for spirit, a crescent for soul, and a cross for matter. The way those parts combine tells you a little about the planet's meaning.
| Planet | Glyph | What it rules |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | ☉ | Core self, identity, vitality |
| Moon | ☽ | Emotions, instinct, the inner world |
| Mercury | ☿ | Mind, speech, learning |
| Venus | ♀ | Love, beauty, values |
| Mars | ♂ | Drive, action, anger |
| Jupiter | ♃ | Growth, luck, belief |
| Saturn | ♄ | Discipline, limits, time |
| Uranus | ♅ | Change, invention, rebellion |
| Neptune | ♆ | Dreams, intuition, illusion |
| Pluto | ♇ | Power, transformation, depth |
The Sun glyph ☉ is a circle with a center dot, the oldest of all and a clear picture of the daytime star. The Moon ☽ is a plain crescent. Venus ♀ is the circle of spirit over the cross of matter, the same sign biologists use for female. Mars ♂ is a circle with an arrow, the male sign. The outer three, Uranus ♅, Neptune ♆, and Pluto ♇, were only added after telescopes found those worlds, which is why their glyphs feel more modern and less uniform. NASA keeps a plain-language tour of these worlds at its solar system pages, useful when you want the astronomy behind the symbol.
The Sun, Moon, and rising sign together make up what astrologers call the big three, the three points most people learn first. Our big three calculator finds all three from your birth details in a few seconds.
Element symbols: fire, earth, air, water
Every sign belongs to one of four elements, and the elements sort the zodiac into four groups of three. The element tells you the basic temperature of a sign: how it takes in the world and how it gives energy back out. The classic triangle glyphs come from alchemy and are still used in chart notes today.
The Fire symbol is an upward triangle. Earth is the same triangle pointing down with a line through it. Air is an upward triangle with a bar near the top, and Water is a plain downward triangle. The pairs make sense once you see them: the two triangles that point up share an active, outward nature, while the two that point down share a receptive, inward one. The glossary has a short entry for each element if you want the longer meaning.
Modality symbols: cardinal, fixed, mutable
Alongside the elements, each sign has a modality, also called a quality. There are three, and they describe how a sign acts rather than what it is made of. Cardinal signs start things, fixed signs hold and sustain them, and mutable signs adapt and change. Four signs sit in each group, one from each element.
- Cardinal: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn. These open each season and tend to initiate.
- Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius. These anchor the middle of each season and tend to persist.
- Mutable: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces. These close each season and tend to adapt.
The bars below show how the 12 signs split evenly across the three modalities, four signs each. It is a tidy structure: three modalities times four elements lands exactly on 12 signs, with no sign sharing a combination.
Together the element and modality of a sign act like its coordinates. Aries is cardinal fire, Taurus is fixed earth, Gemini is mutable air, and so on around the wheel. No two signs share both, which is part of why each sign feels distinct. You can see your own mix laid out when you cast a free birth chart.
Aspect symbols: the angles between planets
The last common group of symbols describes aspects, the angles planets make to one another across the chart. Astrologers read these angles as relationships: some flow easily, some create tension. There are five so-called major aspects, each with its own glyph and its own degree of separation.
| Aspect | Glyph | Angle | General feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conjunction | ☌ | 0 degrees | Blended, intense |
| Sextile | ⚹ | 60 degrees | Easy, supportive |
| Square | □ | 90 degrees | Tense, challenging |
| Trine | △ | 120 degrees | Smooth, flowing |
| Opposition | ☍ | 180 degrees | Pulling, balancing |
The conjunction ☌ marks two planets sitting on the same spot, so their energies merge. The opposition ☍ places them across the wheel from each other, like a tug of war. The square, trine, and sextile fall in between and are often drawn as a square, a triangle, and a six-point star. Beyond these five, charts may show the North Node ☊ and South Node ☋, the points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's, plus the retrograde mark ℞ that flags a planet appearing to move backward. Reading these signs in order is a skill you build with practice.
- 1Find the signsSpot the 12 glyphs ringing the outer wheel
- 2Place the planetsNote which planet glyph sits in which sign
- 3Group by element and modeSort the signs into fire, earth, air, water and cardinal, fixed, mutable
- 4Trace the aspectsFollow the lines and their glyphs between planets
- 5Look up the restUse the glossary for any node, point, or mark you do not know
If you would rather not memorize every shape at once, that is normal. Even longtime readers keep a reference open. Our glossary is built for exactly this, and the broader learn hub collects guides that go deeper on each piece. For a fun tour of the wider subject, the post on 100 facts about astrology is a good next stop, and rarest and most common zodiac signs shows how these symbols spread across real birthdays.
Related reads
- The Big Three: Sun, Moon and Rising
- The most accurate zodiac signs, ranked
- Astrology vs astronomy
- 100 facts about astrology
Frequently asked questions
What do the zodiac sign symbols mean?
Each of the 12 zodiac glyphs is a simplified drawing of the figure the sign is named after. Aries ♈ shows a ram's horns, Taurus ♉ a bull's head and horns, Leo ♌ a lion's mane, and Libra ♎ a set of scales. The shapes are old shorthand that lets astrologers mark a sign in a chart without writing its full name. You can look up any single glyph and its meaning in our glossary.
What are the planet symbols in astrology?
The planet glyphs cover the Sun ☉, Moon ☽, Mercury ☿, Venus ♀, Mars ♂, Jupiter ♃, Saturn ♄, Uranus ♅, Neptune ♆, and Pluto ♇. Each is built from a circle, a crescent, and a cross arranged differently, and each planet governs a part of life, such as the mind for Mercury or love for Venus. NASA's solar system pages cover the astronomy of the same worlds.
Are zodiac symbols real Unicode characters?
Yes. The 12 zodiac signs and the classic planets have official Unicode code points, which is why the glyphs in this article appear as text rather than images. That means they copy, paste, and display on most modern phones and computers without any special font. A few newer or rarer symbols, like some asteroid marks, have less reliable support.
What is the difference between elements and modalities?
Elements (fire, earth, air, water) describe what a sign is made of, its basic temperature and the way it handles energy. Modalities (cardinal, fixed, mutable) describe how a sign acts, whether it starts, sustains, or adapts. Every sign has exactly one of each, so the two together give each sign a unique signature. Cast a free birth chart to see your own blend.
Where can I see all these symbols in my own chart?
The quickest way is to generate a chart and read it with a reference open. Our free birth chart tool places every sign, planet, and aspect glyph on a wheel from your birth date, time, and place. Pair it with the big three calculator for your Sun, Moon, and rising, and keep the glossary handy for any symbol you do not recognize yet.