Virgo Zodiac Sign

Virgo is the sixth sign of the zodiac, symbolized by the Maiden (♍︎). In the tropical zodiac the Sun is in Virgo from about August 22 to September 22, US Eastern Time, and the exact start shifts by a day between years. The Virgo zodiac sign is Mutable Earth, ruled by Mercury.

Virgo at a glance

• Dates (usual): August 22 – September 22 (US Eastern Time)
• Symbol: The Maiden
• Glyph: ♍︎
• Element: Earth
• Modality: Mutable
• Ruling planet: Mercury (traditional and modern)
• Polarity: Negative / feminine (yin, receptive)
• Opposite sign: Pisces

Born near the start or end of Virgo? Check your Sun sign in your birth chart

Virgo occupies 150° to 180° of the zodiac, the sixth 30° section counted from the Sun's position at the March equinox. That equinox lands between March 19 and March 21: a calendar year of whole days never matches the Sun's yearly cycle, and leap years keep correcting the gap. Every sign boundary moves with it, which is why Virgo dates differ slightly from one year to the next. Over 2020–2030, Eastern Time, Virgo starts on August 22 in nine years and on August 23 in two. Its final day is September 22 nine times and September 23 twice.

The moment the Sun reaches 150°, from NASA JPL Horizons ephemeris data:

For a birthday on a change day, around August 22–23 or September 22–23, the date is not enough: your birth time and place decide the sign. The 150° point is the first degree of Virgo and 180° is the first degree of Libra, so at the moment you were born the Sun was in one sign only. People call these "cusp" birthdays, but nobody is born half Leo and half Virgo.

The clock can even change the date. Look at 2026: in New York the Sun enters Virgo at 10:19 PM on August 22, and by UTC it is already 02:19 on August 23. The opposite happens out west: a change between midnight and 3 AM Eastern still lands on the previous date in Pacific Time. Put your birth time and city into the birth chart to settle it.

The Virgo meaning in astrology comes from three ingredients: the Earth element, the Mutable modality and Mercury as ruler. Earth ties a sign to the material world. Mutable describes a sign at the end of its season, and Virgo's dates close out summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Mercury rules Virgo and, in the traditional scheme of dignities, is also counted as exalted here, though some disagree with that second classification. Taken together, the Virgo sign is pictured as observant, hands-on and always fine-tuning.

Astrology is an interpretive tradition rather than a scientifically validated method, so read the lists below as themes to test against your own habits.

Strengths in the tradition

• Careful observation (Mercury and Earth): Virgo is read as the sign that notices the typo in the menu, the step missing from the instructions, the bill that was charged twice.
• Making things work (Earth): The tradition links Virgo with turning a vague plan into a checklist someone can actually follow.
• Flexible method (Mutable): When a routine stops serving its purpose, Virgo is described as rebuilding it rather than defending it.

Challenges in the tradition

• Small details crowding out big ones (Mercury and Earth): A sharp eye for errors can stall a project that is already good enough.
• Endless revision (Mutable and Mercury): The urge to adjust can keep a finished piece of work from ever being called finished.
• Help that sounds like correction (Mercury): Pointing out a better way, meant kindly, may land as criticism.

The sign for Virgo in the zodiac comes in two forms: the Maiden as the symbol and ♍︎ as the glyph. Virgo is Latin for "virgin" or "maiden," the same meaning as the Greek Parthenos, and people born under the sign are called Virgos or Virgoans.

Myth links the sign to Astraea, the last immortal to leave Earth at the end of the Silver Age. That story is why Virgo is associated with Earth, and Astraea later became the constellation Virgo. Most myths tie the Maiden to wheat. Greek and Roman stories connect her with Demeter, goddess of the harvest, or with Demeter's daughter Persephone. In Egypt, the Sun's arrival in Virgo marked the start of the wheat harvest.

The zodiac sign and the constellation are different things. The sign is an exact 30° slice of the ecliptic measured from the March equinox. Precession of the equinoxes, a discovery attributed to Hipparchus around 130 BC, slowly moves that starting point against the stars, so tropical signs and the constellations, which the sidereal zodiac follows, drift apart by about 1.4° per century. The star pattern is also far wider than the sign: the constellation Virgo spans five times as much ecliptic longitude as Scorpius, while the tropical Virgo used on Astrolivo is always exactly 150° to 180°.

In relationships, astrologers read Mercury-ruled Mutable Earth as attentive and steady. Affection tends to come out as practical follow-through: remembering how someone takes their coffee, sorting out a messy weekend schedule, turning up with tools when something breaks. Talk matters too, and the tradition expects Virgo to prefer clear, specific conversations to vague reassurance. On compatibility, astrology looks at elements and polarity instead of promises: Virgo shares Earth with Taurus and Capricorn, and its receptive polarity with the Water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.

At work, the tradition connects Earth and Mercury with editing, organizing and quality control. The Mutable side suits roles where processes keep changing and someone has to find the bottleneck and fix it.

Saying "I'm a Virgo" names the Sun sign, the single placement that popular sun sign astrology looks at. For most birthdays the date alone settles your Sun sign; on a change day around August 22–23 or September 22–23, birth time and place decide it, as shown under Virgo dates. A full birth chart adds the Moon, the planets, the Ascendant and the twelve houses.

Take an example chart with the Sun in Virgo, the Moon in Sagittarius and a Cancer Ascendant. Astrologers would describe a methodical Mercury-ruled core, a Fire Moon that wants room and adventure, and a Water sign rising that meets new people with warmth.

The Moon has a sign of its own: Moon in Virgo covers that placement, which is about emotional needs. Your rising sign is the rising degree of the ecliptic at the moment of birth, so it needs an exact time. Enter your birth date, time and city in the free birth chart calculator to see all three, no sign-up required.

Virgo comes after Leo, the Fixed Fire sign ruled by the Sun, and before Libra, the Cardinal Air sign ruled by Venus. The rest of the wheel is on all zodiac signs.

FAQ

What are the dates for Virgo? Usually August 22 to September 22, US Eastern Time. The Sun entered Virgo on August 22 in 2025 and 2026 (in 2026 that was already August 23 in UTC) and enters on August 23 in 2027; the table above lists the minute.

What planet rules Virgo? Mercury, in both classical and modern Western astrology. It is the same planet that rules Gemini, the third sign.

What element is Virgo? Earth. Virgo is the Mutable Earth sign, one of three Earth signs with Taurus and Capricorn, and one of four Mutable signs with Gemini, Sagittarius and Pisces.

How this page was made

Prepared by the Astrolivo editorial team from the Wikipedia articles Virgo (astrology), Astrological sign, Planets in astrology, Zodiac, and Astrology and science, and from NASA JPL Horizons ephemeris data for the Sun's entry times, then fact-checked against those sources. Astrological meanings are given as readings of the tradition.