Public charts · The United States
The USA birth chart, and why there are five of them
Nobody wrote down the minute the country was born. So we computed the famous Sibly chart and four serious rivals side by side, kept what they all agree on, and dated the first US Pluto return to the day.
Photo: Giuseppe Mondì / Burst
At a glance
The standard USA chart (Sibly) is July 4, 1776, 5:10 PM in Philadelphia: Sun 13°19′ Cancer, Moon in Aquarius, 12°26′ Sagittarius rising. The US Pluto return was exact in 2022.
- Sun
- 13°19′ CancerCancer all day on July 4, 1776
- Moon
- Aquarius, 27°11′Aquarius in every July 4 chart
- Rising (Sibly)
- 12°26′ Sagittarius5 signs across the five charts
- Midheaven (Sibly)
- 1°09′ Libra
- Pluto
- 27°33′ Capricorn2nd house (Placidus and whole sign)
- US Pluto return
- 3 passes, 2022Feb 20, 2022; Jul 11, 2022 and Dec 28, 2022
The 2026-2027 transit timelineSaturn on the US Sun, Neptune into Aries, and the first US Uranus return.
The problem
A country with a birthday but no birth time
Try this today
- Next time a post names the US rising sign, check which time it uses. 5:10 PM means Sibly; about 2 AM means the Gemini chart.
- Use the chart switcher below and watch the houses move while the planets sit still.
Why your rising sign differs between appsWhole sign vs Placidus houses
Every Fourth of July someone posts "the USA's birth chart" with total confidence. Then someone else posts a different one. Both can be telling the truth about their sources, because the founding moment was never timed.
Here is what the record does say. Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776. It then debated the wording of Jefferson's Declaration and approved the text on July 4, in Philadelphia. John Adams wrote that the vote on July 2 would be "the most memorable epoch in the history of America." Nobody noted the clock time of either moment.
Astrologers have filled that gap in different ways: by reading old accounts of the debate, by working backward from events (called rectification), or by trusting a chart that has simply been used for a long time. That is how you end up with a Sagittarius-rising USA, a Gemini-rising USA, and three more.
For people, our rule is strict: we only print a rising sign when Astro-Databank rates the birth time AA or A. A nation has no birth certificate to rate, so we do the honest version here instead. Every candidate chart below is labelled as a proposal, with its time and where it comes from, and the placements that hold for any time on July 4 are kept separate.
The famous one
The Sibly chart: Sagittarius rising, Sun in the 7th
Try this today
- Compare the Sibly Sagittarius rising with the Gemini chart in the tool below: the two are almost exactly opposite.
- If you read a US forecast, look for the word Sibly. If the writer does not say which chart, ask.
In 1787 the English astrologer Ebenezer Sibly printed a chart for American independence in his New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology. His original is a puzzle: researchers note that the planets and the house cusps were worked for different times, and some argue it began life as a London chart. What astrologers call "the Sibly chart" today is the cleaned-up Philadelphia version, set for about 5:10 PM local time on July 4, in the late afternoon that Jefferson's notes point to.
Computed for that moment, it puts 12°26′ Sagittarius on the horizon and 1°09′ Libra at the top. In Placidus houses, the system most online charts use, the 8th cusp falls at 16°09′ Cancer, so the Sun at 13°19′ Cancer lands in the 7th house, the house of partners and allies. That is where the famous line "the US has its Sun in the 7th" comes from. In whole-sign houses the same Sun sits in the 8th.
A few placements that astrologers lean on in this chart: Saturn at 14°48′ Libra in the 10th Placidus house (government, authority), Pluto at 27°33′ Capricorn in the 2nd (money and resources), and Mars at 21°23′ Gemini in the 7th. Uranus at 8°55′ Gemini sits 3.5° before the descendant, in the 6th house.
The sky behind it
Sibly chart computed for July 4, 1776, 17:10 LMT (22:10 UTC), 39n57, 75w10. Placidus cusps: 1 12°26′ Sagittarius, 2 16°09′ Capricorn, 3 24°59′ Aquarius, 4 1°09′ Aries, 5 29°53′ Aries, 6 22°39′ Taurus, 7 12°26′ Gemini, 8 16°09′ Cancer, 9 24°59′ Leo, 10 1°09′ Libra, 11 29°53′ Libra, 12 22°39′ Scorpio. As a check, published Sibly charts give the Sun at 13°19′ Cancer and the Moon at about 27°10′ Aquarius; we get 13°19′ Cancer and 27°11′ Aquarius.
The rivals
Four other US charts, and the case for each
Try this today
- Pick one planet in the tool, say Saturn, and click through the five charts. Notice which house each school would read it in.
- Read a forecast built on each chart side by side. Where they agree is the part that does not depend on the clock.
The Gemini rising chart (7°54′ Gemini). For a long stretch this was the favourite. It traces to Luke Broughton, the best-known American astrologer of the 1860s, who argued that Gemini rules the US and seems to have taken Uranus's degree in 1776 as the rising degree. Evangeline Adams popularised a chart for around 2:15 AM. The catch: Congress was not in session in the middle of the night.
The Virgo rising charts (16°38′ Virgo to 28°39′ Virgo between 10 and 11 AM). Based on the idea that the Declaration was adopted in the morning. Ronald Howland discussed these at length. Jefferson's own account of the debate makes a morning vote unlikely.
The Scorpio rising chart (8°27′ Scorpio). Marc Penfield set a chart for 2:20 PM, from John Hancock's recollection of when the Declaration came out of committee.
The July 2 chart (27°04′ Virgo to 9°05′ Libra between 11 AM and noon). The actual vote for independence. John Adams wrote of a second vote "in the 11th hour of the morning." Ray Merriman favours a Libra-rising version, with Saturn in the 1st. Its Moon is in Capricorn, not Aquarius.
There are more (Dane Rudhyar's 13° Sagittarius chart, a July 8 proclamation chart, even a 1774 First Congress chart), but these five cover the main schools. None of them is "the real one" in any provable sense. They are different answers to a question history did not record.
What everyone agrees on
Cancer Sun, Aquarius Moon, Saturn in Libra
Try this today
- Born in late June or early July? Put your date in the tool below. Your Sun is probably within a few degrees of the US Sun.
Strip away the rising sign and a lot survives. On July 4, 1776 these held from the first minute to the last:
- Sun in Cancer (12°38′ Cancer to 13°36′ Cancer), with Mercury, Venus and Jupiter also in Cancer. Cancer is the sign of home, family and belonging, which astrologers like to set beside a nation of immigrants and a very sentimental national holiday.
- Mercury retrograde in Cancer (24°31′ Cancer to 24°04′ Cancer). Yes, the Declaration was approved with Mercury retrograde, a fact that delights anyone who has ever blamed Mercury for a messy document.
- Mars in Gemini (20°53′ Gemini) and Uranus in Gemini (8°53′ Gemini): the two planets of disruption, side by side in the sign of talk and print.
- Saturn in Libra (14°47′ Libra), exalted in the tradition: the planet of law in the sign of balance.
- Pluto in Capricorn (27°34′ Capricorn, retrograde), the placement behind every "US Pluto return" headline.
And the Moon in Aquarius for every July 4 chart: it ran from 16°50′ Aquarius to 1°18′ Pisces during the day and only reached Pisces late that evening.
The US Pluto return
Pluto came home in 2022, three times
Pluto takes about 248 years to go once round the zodiac, so no person ever has a Pluto return. A country can. The United States had its first in 2022, and because Pluto went retrograde in between, it touched the US Pluto at 27°33′ Capricorn three times:
- Feb 20, 2022 (Pluto moving direct)
- Jul 11, 2022 (Pluto moving retrograde)
- Dec 28, 2022 (Pluto moving direct)
Pluto at this degree is the same in every July 4 chart, so these dates do not depend on the rising sign debate. If you saw "February 22" elsewhere: published dates differ by a day or two depending on whether the US Pluto is taken as 27°33′ or 27°34′ and which time zone is used. Our Feb 20, 2022 is the UTC date for 27°33′ Capricorn.
Astrologers read a Pluto return as a reckoning with power, money and debt (Pluto sits in the money house in the Sibly chart). It is a symbol astrologers reflect on, not a forecast, and we do not attach world events to transits.
Pluto has since moved on. It is now in Aquarius, and sat at 4°48′ Aquarius on the 250th birthday.
Play with it
Switch charts, follow a planet, and put your birthday next to America's
Five proposed US charts. The planets barely move between them; the rising sign and the houses do. Pick a chart, follow one planet through all five, then add your birth date to see which US planets yours touch.
1. Pick a chart
12°26′ Sagittarius rising, Midheaven 1°09′ Libra
July 4, 1776, 5:10 PM (Philadelphia local mean time). The most widely used US chart: the modern Philadelphia version of the chart Ebenezer Sibly published in 1787.
Sun at 13°19′ Cancer, in the 8th house
In the sibly chart that is the house of shared wealth, debt and taxes (whole-sign houses). Across the five charts the Sun lands in 5 different houses: Sibly 8th, Gemini rising 2nd, Virgo rising 11th, Scorpio rising 9th, July 2 vote 10th.
No birth time needed. We compare your Sun to Saturn with the July 4, 1776 planets, which are the same in every chart.
More to read
Shorter reads. Each opens in place.
Other returns
Saturn returns and the first US Uranus return
Saturn comes back every 29 to 30 years; the most recent US Saturn return to 14°48′ Libra came in 3 passes, Dec 3, 2010; Mar 22, 2011 and Aug 28, 2011. Uranus takes about 84 years, so the US has already had two Uranus returns. The third begins on Jul 27, 2027, with passes on Jul 27, 2027; Nov 5, 2027 and May 11, 2028. Dates for all of it are on the 2026-2027 timeline.
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America 250
The sky on the 250th birthday
At 5:10 PM in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026, the Sun was at 12°54′ Cancer, Mercury was retrograde at 25°16′ Cancer (just as in 1776), Saturn stood at 14°21′ Aries, within a degree of squaring the US Sun (exact on Jun 15, 2026; Sep 6, 2026 and Mar 3, 2027), and Neptune had just entered Aries at 4°25′ Aries. The Sun returned to its exact 1776 degree on Jul 5, 2026 UTC, the US solar return.
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The USA charts, computed
Positions from NASA JPL's DE442 ephemeris, tropical zodiac, Philadelphia (39n57, 75w10), local mean time. Houses in the comparison table are whole sign.
| Chart | Date and time (LMT) | Rising | Midheaven | Moon | Sun's house (whole sign) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sibly chart | July 4, 1776, 5:10 PM | 12°26′ Sagittarius | 1°09′ Libra | 27°11′ Aquarius | 8th |
| Gemini rising chart | July 4, 1776, about 2:15 AM | 7°54′ Gemini | 14°13′ Aquarius | 18°11′ Aquarius | 2nd |
| Virgo rising chart | July 4, 1776, 10 to 11 AM (10:30 shown) | 22°38′ Virgo | 21°32′ Gemini | 23°09′ Aquarius | 11th |
| Scorpio rising chart | July 4, 1776, 2:20 PM | 8°27′ Scorpio | 15°58′ Leo | 25°28′ Aquarius | 9th |
| July 2 vote chart | July 2, 1776, 11 AM to noon (11:30 shown) | 3°05′ Libra | 3°32′ Cancer | 24°58′ Capricorn | 10th |
| Body | Position | Placidus house | Whole-sign house | Motion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 13°19′ Cancer | 7th | 8th | Direct |
| Moon | 27°11′ Aquarius | 3rd | 3rd | Direct |
| Mercury | 24°12′ Cancer | 8th | 8th | Retrograde |
| Venus | 3°06′ Cancer | 7th | 8th | Direct |
| Mars | 21°23′ Gemini | 7th | 7th | Direct |
| Jupiter | 5°56′ Cancer | 7th | 8th | Direct |
| Saturn | 14°48′ Libra | 10th | 11th | Direct |
| Uranus | 8°55′ Gemini | 6th | 7th | Direct |
| Neptune | 22°25′ Virgo | 9th | 10th | Direct |
| Pluto | 27°33′ Capricorn | 2nd | 2nd | Retrograde |
| North Node (mean) | 7°36′ Leo | 8th | 9th | Retrograde |
| Body | Position across the day | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | 12°38′ Cancer to 13°36′ Cancer | Direct |
| Moon | 16°50′ Aquarius to 1°18′ Pisces | Direct |
| Mercury | 24°31′ Cancer to 24°04′ Cancer | Retrograde |
| Venus | 2°14′ Cancer to 3°27′ Cancer | Direct |
| Mars | 20°53′ Gemini to 21°34′ Gemini | Direct |
| Jupiter | 5°46′ Cancer to 6°00′ Cancer | Direct |
| Saturn | 14°47′ Libra to 14°49′ Libra | Direct |
| Uranus | 8°53′ Gemini to 8°56′ Gemini | Direct |
| Neptune | 22°24′ Virgo to 22°25′ Virgo | Direct |
| Pluto | 27°34′ Capricorn to 27°33′ Capricorn | Retrograde |
| Pass | Date (UTC) | Pluto moving |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 20, 2022 | direct |
| 2 | Jul 11, 2022 | retrograde |
| 3 | Dec 28, 2022 | direct |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
What is the USA birth chart?
Most astrologers use the Sibly chart: July 4, 1776, 5:10 PM local time, Philadelphia. It puts the Sun at 13°19′ Cancer, the Moon at 27°11′ Aquarius, 12°26′ Sagittarius rising and the Midheaven at 1°09′ Libra. The time is a convention, not a record: no document gives the minute the Declaration was adopted.
Why is it called the Sibly chart?
Because Ebenezer Sibly, an English astrologer and Freemason, published the first chart for American independence in 1787. His original is internally confused (planets and house cusps set for different times and places), and the modern Sibly chart is a Philadelphia reconstruction set for about 5:10 PM.
What is the USA rising sign?
It depends on which chart you use. The Sibly chart gives Sagittarius, the Gemini chart Gemini, the morning charts Virgo, Penfield's Scorpio, and the July 2 vote chart Libra (it starts in late Virgo at 11 AM). Sagittarius (Sibly) and Gemini have been the two most popular.
When was the US Pluto return?
In 2022. Pluto came back to the US Pluto at 27°33′ Capricorn three times: Feb 20, 2022; Jul 11, 2022 and Dec 28, 2022. It was the first Pluto return in the country's history, because Pluto takes about 248 years to go round the zodiac.
Is the US Pluto return still happening in 2026?
No. The exact passes ended on Dec 28, 2022, and Pluto has since moved into Aquarius; on July 4, 2026 it was at 4°48′ Aquarius. What is happening in 2026-2027 is different: Saturn squares the US Sun and Neptune enters Aries, and in 2027 Uranus makes its first return to the US Uranus.
What does the USA chart look like for America's 250th birthday?
On July 4, 2026 at 5:10 PM in Philadelphia, the Sun was at 12°54′ Cancer, a few arcminutes from its 1776 place, the Moon in Pisces, Saturn at 14°21′ Aries squaring the US Sun, and Jupiter just into Leo. The exact solar return came on Jul 5, 2026 UTC.
What is the US Moon sign?
Aquarius in every July 4 chart: the Moon ran from 16°50′ Aquarius to 1°18′ Pisces that day, entering Pisces only late that evening. The July 2 chart is the exception, with the Moon in Capricorn.
Is the USA a Cancer?
Yes, by Sun sign. On July 4, 1776 the Sun was in Cancer all day (12°38′ Cancer to 13°36′ Cancer), and Mercury, Venus and Jupiter were in Cancer too, whatever the time.
