If your birthday is in July before 23 July, your star sign is Cancer. From 23 July onwards it is Leo. The changeover can move by a day in some years, so for a birthday right on 23 July it's worth checking the year.
July zodiac sign dates
- Cancer: 21 June to 22 July
- Leo: 23 July to 22 August
Where the Sun really is in July
The Sun is in Gemini until about 20 July and in Cancer for the rest of the month. A Cancer birthday in early July has the Sun in Gemini, beside Castor and Pollux.
The July gap between sign and constellation comes from the slow wobble of the Earth's axis. The zodiac signs and constellations guide explains why Cancer and Leo have drifted, and Ophiuchus is the one the signs leave out.
What is in the July evening sky
July evenings have the Summer Triangle high overhead and the Teapot of Sagittarius just clearing the southern horizon, in the direction of the centre of the Milky Way.
Cancer and Leo in the sky
The brightest point of Cancer is the Beehive Cluster, and of Leo, Regulus. Both are drawn in the series of twelve Cancer constellation print and Leo constellation print, in near-black, gold and warm ivory.
Cancer and Leo belong to different elements: the zodiac elements guide sorts all twelve signs into fire, earth, air and water.
For a July birthday, a personalised star map charts the stars over the place someone was born, on the night itself, and the preview is free.