Aries Zodiac Sign: Dates, Traits and Ruling Planet
- Usual dates
- March 21 to April 19
- Element
- Fire
- Mode
- Cardinal
- Ruling planet
- Mars
Dates and the edge days
Aries dates are March 21 to April 19. March 21 and April 19 are the edge days: the year and the birth time can put the Sun on either side of the change. The calculator checks that moment instead of trusting the printed range.
Element, mode, and ruler
Aries is a fire sign, and it is cardinal. Cardinal signs are the ones that open a season. Aries opens the year at the March equinox, so the old books treat it as a beginning rather than a continuation. Bold, direct, quick to start things.
Mars is the traditional ruler: a fast, hot planet in the classical list. Modern writers sometimes add a co-ruler, but this site keeps the textbook ruler. Textbook descriptions of Aries stress a short fuse and a straight answer. The sign is drawn as a ram, and the metaphor is about starting a charge, not about finishing a long plan. People use it for the part of a chart that wants to go first. That is a tradition, not a test result, and it does not say what any one person will do tomorrow.
Moon in Aries
The Moon in Aries is usually described as feelings that arrive quickly and show on the face. Comfort, in this tradition, looks like room to act rather than a long talk about the mood. The Moon still changes sign about every two and a half days, so this placement needs a birth time when the Moon changed that day.
Aries rising
Aries rising is the tradition's picture of a first impression that is direct, sometimes blunt, and rarely slow to speak. The rising sign is the eastern horizon, so it moves through all twelve signs in a day. Without a birth time there is no Aries rising to report.
Sign and constellation
The star pattern named Aries is small. Its brightest star is Hamal. The sign is the first 30 degrees of the zodiac, counted from the March equinox, so the sign and those stars no longer sit in the same place.
Calculators
For the Sun sign, use the zodiac calculator. The Moon, Rising, Mercury, Venus, and Mars calculators answer a different question, and the Aries horoscope is a separate daily note on the same sign.
Zodiac sign calculator · Moon · Rising · Aries horoscope
Dates usually counted as Aries
March 21 · March 22 · March 23 · March 24 · March 25 · March 26 · March 27 · March 28 · March 29 · March 30 · March 31 · April 1 · April 2 · April 3 · April 4 · April 5 · April 6 · April 7 · April 8 · April 9 · April 10 · April 11 · April 12 · April 13 · April 14 · April 15 · April 16 · April 17 · April 18 · April 19
Questions
What are Aries dates?
Aries dates are March 21 to April 19 in the usual tropical calendar. Those two edges are changeover days: the year and the birth time can put the Sun in Aries or in the neighboring sign. Each date page below uses noon UTC, the same engine as the zodiac calculator, so you can see whether that birthday stays in Aries.
What month is Aries?
Aries season sits in March and April. It does not fill either month on its own. March 21 is the usual start, and April 19 is the usual last day, with a clock time that shifts a little each year. Use the date list on this page, or the March and April birthday hubs.
When does Aries season start?
Aries season usually starts on March 21. That is the calendar day when the Sun is treated as entering Aries, but the exact minute depends on the year. The zodiac calculator uses the same tropical longitude as these pages. If the birthday is March 21 or April 19, check the year rather than the printed range.