August 23 – September 22 · Earth

Virgo birthstones

Virgo carries Sapphire and Carnelian in the zodiac tradition.

Sapphire

Composition Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) — corundum coloured by iron and titanium
Hardness · System 9 · Trigonal

Padparadscha — a pink-orange sapphire named after the lotus flower — is the rarest colour and outprices most blues.

Traditionally associated with judgement, focus and keeping a promise.

Carnelian

Composition Chalcedony coloured by iron oxide
Hardness · System 6.5–7 · Trigonal

Like sardonyx, hot sealing wax does not stick to it — the practical reason it dominated ancient seal-making.

Traditionally associated with drive, appetite and getting started.

Sign or month?

Virgo runs August 23 – September 22, which crosses two calendar months — so the zodiac stone and the monthly birthstone may or may not agree depending on your exact date. Neither system overrules the other; the zodiac one is simply older.

Compare against the monthly chart →

← All zodiac birthstones

Two systems, one birth date

Virgo spans 2 calendar months, so you have more than one birthstone

Zodiac stones Sapphire, Carnelian
Months it covers August and September
Stones of those months Peridot, Spinel, Sapphire
In both systems Sapphire

August 23 – September 22 — so the sign opens in one month and closes in another. Why the two lists never line up →

The split is uneven: 9 days fall in August and 22 in September. So most people with this sign — 71% — are sold the September stone.

Carnelian appears in no month at all — one of just four such stones across the twelve signs.

August Peridot, Spinel September Sapphire

The stones themselves

Stone Mohs Crystal system Main sources
Sapphire 9 Trigonal Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Myanmar
Carnelian 6.5–7 Trigonal India, Brazil, Uruguay

Carnelian is the softer at 6.5–7 on the Mohs scale — below 7, which means household dust scratches it, so it belongs in earrings or a pendant rather than an everyday ring. What the scale means →

Sapphire

Aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) — corundum coloured by iron and titanium Worn by medieval clergy as a symbol of heaven; prized in Persia and Kashmir

Carnelian

Chalcedony coloured by iron oxide Used for Roman signet rings; found in Bronze Age burials across Eurasia