Decan 1 · 0°–10°
Sub-ruler: Sun
Double Sun — the most confident and most in need of recognition.
2026: Jul 22 – Aug 2 · Chaldean order: Saturn
July 23 – August 22 · Fire · Fixed · ruled by the Sun
Leo
Leo covers July 23 – August 22 and is the 5th sign of the zodiac: fire, fixed, ruled by the Sun. Its keynote is warmth, presence and the need to be seen doing it. In 2026 the Sun spends 31.3 days in it — the 3rd longest of the twelve, because the signs are not equal in length.
- Sun enters 2027
- Jul 23 1:05 AM UTC
- Sun leaves
- Aug 23 8:14 AM UTC
- Season length
- 31.3 days 31 d 7 h 9 min
- US births
- 8.96% most common of 12
Times: NASA JPL DE440. Births: US Social Security Administration, 2000–2014.
Exact times
Leo season 2027: the exact start in your city
The Sun enters Leo at 1:05 AM UTC on July 23, 2027 — 9:05 PM on July 22 in Santiago, 9:05 PM on July 22 in New York, 2:05 AM in London and 10:05 AM in Tokyo — and leaves it for Virgo at 8:14 AM UTC on August 23, after 31 d 7 h 9 min.
| City | Sun enters Leo | Sun moves on to Virgo |
|---|---|---|
| UTC | Fri, Jul 23 | Mon, Aug 23 |
| Honolulu United States | 3:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−10 | 10:14 PM Sun, Aug 22 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 5:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−8 | 12:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−8 |
| Los Angeles United States | 6:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−7 | 1:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−7 |
| Phoenix United States | 6:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−7 | 1:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 7:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−6 | 2:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−6 |
| Chicago United States | 8:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−5 | 3:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−5 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 7:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−6 | 2:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 9:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−4 | 4:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−4 |
| Toronto Canada | 9:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−4 | 4:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−4 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 8:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−5 | 3:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 8:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−5 | 3:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 9:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−4 | 4:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 9:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−4 | 4:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 10:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−3 | 5:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 10:05 PM Thu, Jul 22 · UTC−3 | 5:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 1:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC | 8:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 2:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+1 | 9:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+1 |
| Lagos Nigeria | 2:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+1 | 9:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 3:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+2 | 10:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+2 |
| Berlin Germany | 3:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+2 | 10:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+2 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 3:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+2 | 10:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 4:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+3 | 11:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+3 |
| Athens Greece | 4:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+3 | 11:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+3 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 4:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+3 | 11:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+3 |
| Moscow Russia | 4:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+3 | 11:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 4:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+3 | 11:14 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 4:35 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+3:30 | 11:44 AM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 5:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+4 | 12:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 6:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+5 | 1:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 6:35 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+5:30 | 1:44 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 6:50 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+5:45 | 1:59 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 7:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+6 | 2:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 8:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+7 | 3:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 8:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+7 | 3:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 9:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+8 | 4:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 9:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+8 | 4:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 9:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+8 | 4:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 9:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+8 | 4:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 10:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+9 | 5:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 10:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+9 | 5:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 10:35 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+9:30 | 5:44 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 11:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+10 | 6:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 11:05 AM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+10 | 6:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 1:05 PM Fri, Jul 23 · UTC+12 | 8:14 PM Mon, Aug 23 · UTC+12 |
Sun’s ingress from the NASA JPL DE440 ephemeris; Swiss Ephemeris agrees within 5 seconds. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.
18 pages · printable
The 2027 Sky Calendar — free PDF
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
DatesJuly 23 – August 22
SymbolLion
ElementFire
ModalityFixed
Ruling planetSun
House5
PolarityPositive
Lucky numbers1, 4
Lucky daySunday
ColorGold, orange
BirthstonePeridot, onyx
Best matches
Aries, Sagittarius, Gemini
Hardest matches
Virgo, Capricorn, Pisces
Rules the bodyHeart and spine
Calculated, not approximated
Exact Leo dates for 2026
Sun enters Leo
July 22, 7:13 PM UTC
Sun leaves Leo
August 23, 2:19 AM UTC
Length this year
31.3 days
The usual "July 23 – August 22" is an average. The Sun enters Leo at 120° of ecliptic longitude, and the exact minute of that crossing — given above for the coming season — moves a little every year, which is what a boundary birthday needs.
Leo season started as late as Jul 24, 1:58 AM UTC in 1903 and will start as early as Jul 22, 2:47 AM UTC in 2048; in 2026 it is Jul 22, 7:13 PM UTC. A common year moves the ingress about 5 h 47 min later and a leap day pulls it back about 18 h 8 min, so it saw-tooths between July 22 and 24. The season itself has run from 31 d 6 h 40 min to 31 d 7 h 16 min — a spread of 36 minutes over 151 years.
Calculated from the Sun's actual motion
The zodiac signs are not equal
Leo lasts
31.3 days
Rank by length
3 of 12
Share of all births
8.96%
If signs were even
30.44 days · 8.33%
Leo runs 31.3 days in 2026 — one of the long signs the Sun crosses in the months around aphelion, when Earth moves slowest. Only just longer is Gemini at 31.32 days; just behind is Taurus at 30.96.
With US births also peaking between July and September, Leo took 8.96% of them in 2000–2014. All twelve lengths, and why they differ, are on the zodiac dates page.
Leo: 8.96% of the 62.2 million births, with each birth assigned by the Sun’s ingress time — the most common sign of the twelve. The rarest, Capricorn, took 7.63%. An even split would give 8.33%.
Rarely covered
The three Leo decans
Ten degrees each. Modern astrologers give them to the three fire signs' rulers — the Sun, Jupiter and Mars; the older Chaldean order, used on our birth date pages, gives Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.
Decan 2 · 10°–20°
Sub-ruler: Jupiter
Expansive and generous. The teacher and the traveler.
2026: Aug 2 – Aug 12 · Chaldean order: Jupiter
Decan 3 · 20°–30°
Sub-ruler: Mars
Sharper and more driven, with a shorter temper.
2026: Aug 12 – Aug 23 · Chaldean order: Mars
Leo personality
Generous
Proud
Dramatic
Loyal
Attention-seeking
Strengths
Genuinely generous, and lifts the mood of a room by walking into it.
Weaknesses
Needs recognition badly enough that its absence reads as rejection.
Leo is the one fixed fire sign — and that pairing is the whole explanation. The element sets temperament: fire signs act first and consider afterward. The modality decides what happens when circumstances change: fixed signs resist it and hold their position.
No other sign is fixed fire, so Leo cannot stand in for the other fire signs — which share the temperament and divide the work between them differently.
Primary source
Why the Sun rules Leo, in Ptolemy’s words
“Cancer and Leo are the most northerly of all the twelve signs; they approach nearer than the other signs to the zenith of this part of the earth, and thereby cause warmth and heat: they are consequently appropriated as houses for the two principal and greater luminaries; Leo for the Sun, as being masculine; and Cancer for the Moon, as being feminine.”
Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, book I, chapter XX, translated by J. M. Ashmand from the Greek paraphrase of Proclus (London, 1822) — read the original text.
Ptolemy wrote in Alexandria, and his reasoning is from the northern hemisphere, where Cancer and Leo are the summer signs. He knew seven planets, and this scheme of rulers is still the one astrologers use.
Primary source
What William Lilly wrote about Leo in 1647
“[Leo] is the onely house of the Sun, by nature, Fiery, Hot, Dry, Cholerick, Diurnal, Commanding, Bestial, Barren, of the East, and Fiery Triplicity, Masculine.”
“Great round Head, big Eyes starting or staring out, or goggle-eyes, quick-sighted, a full and large body and it more then of middle stature, broad Shoulders, narrow Sides, yellow or darke flaxen haire and it much curling or turning up, a fierce countenance, but ruddy, high sanguine complexion, strong, valiant and active.”
William Lilly, Christian Astrology (London, 1647), book I, chapter XVI — read the original text.
Christian Astrology was the first astrology textbook of its kind printed in English rather than Latin. Lilly used these descriptions mainly for the sign rising at a birth or at the moment a question was asked; reading character from the Sun’s sign alone was popularized by newspaper horoscopes in the 1930s. Spelling and punctuation are as printed, with the long s and u/v modernized; signs and planets printed as symbols are given in square brackets.
The Leo man and woman
Leo man
Generous and demonstrative, and genuinely wounded by indifference.
Leo woman
Warm, magnetic and proud. Gives extravagantly and expects to be noticed for it.
Astrology gives Leo no gendered meaning; the two sketches follow how the sign is usually written about.
Leo in each area of life
In love and relationships
Romantic and demonstrative. Wants to be admired, not merely tolerated.
As a friend
The one who organizes the party and remembers what you like. Needs appreciation back.
At work
Natural in front-facing roles. Chafes when the credit goes elsewhere.
Career that suits
Performance, leadership, teaching, anything with an audience or a stage of some kind.
With money
Earns well and spends generously, often on other people.
As a child
Performs from an early age and needs a genuine audience. Ignoring a Leo child is the one real punishment.
As a parent
Warm, playful and proud. Risks treating a child as a reflection of themselves.
Health and the body
Heart and spine — Leo rules them, which is why the sign is associated with the back.
Leo compatibility with every sign
Ranked by the angle from Leo on the wheel; how the angle is read is explained on the compatibility hub.
| With | Aspect | Angle | Score | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Trine | 120° | 88% | Fire |
| Sagittarius | Trine | 120° | 88% | Fire |
| Gemini | Sextile | 60° | 82% | Air |
| Libra | Sextile | 60° | 82% | Air |
| Leo | Conjunction | 0° | 78% | Fire |
| Aquarius | Opposition | 180° | 75% | Air |
| Taurus | Square | 90° | 62% | Earth |
| Scorpio | Square | 90° | 62% | Water |
| Cancer | Semi-sextile | 30° | 58% | Water |
| Virgo | Semi-sextile | 30° | 58% | Earth |
| Capricorn | Quincunx | 150° | 55% | Earth |
| Pisces | Quincunx | 150° | 55% | Water |
Famous Leos
Barack Obama, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Carl Jung
Leo accounts for 8.96% of US births, so a list of famous Leos is trivia rather than evidence.
Common questions about Leo
What are the exact Leo dates?
July 23 – August 22 as usually published. In 2026 the Sun enters Leo on July 22 at 7:13 PM UTC and leaves on August 23 at 2:18 AM UTC.
Who is Leo most compatible with?
By aspect, Aries, Sagittarius and Gemini — they sit at the easiest angles from Leo.
What is a Leo decan?
A ten-degree third of the sign with its own sub-ruler: the Sun, Jupiter and Mars in the modern scheme, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the older Chaldean order.
What body part does Leo rule?
Heart and spine — Leo rules them, which is why the sign is associated with the back.
Is the Leo man different from the woman?
Not in the chart: the Sun in Leo works the same for everyone. The difference is in how it is written about — the Leo man is usually read through Mars, which spends 10.0% of days in Leo, and the Leo woman through Venus, at 8.4%.
Sources
- Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, book I, chapter XX, translated by J. M. Ashmand from the Greek paraphrase of Proclus (London, 1822)
- William Lilly, Christian Astrology (London, 1647), book I, chapter XVI
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Leo (July 23 – August 22): Traits and Compatibility.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/zodiac-signs/leo/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Leo (July 23 – August 22): Traits and Compatibility |url=https://astrohot.com/zodiac-signs/leo/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}