| Sagittarius Dates: | November 21 – December 21* |
| Zodiac Symbol: | Archer |
| Element: | Fire |
| Ruling Planet: | Jupiter |
| Ruling House: | 9th |
| Quality: | Mutable |
| Polarity: | Positive |
| Power Color: | Red, Purple, Blue, Indigo |
| Birthstones: | Topaz, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Turquoise |
| Flowers: | Carnation |
| Key Traits: | Adventurer, Idealistic, Exaggerative |
| Desires: | To make the impossible possible |
| Compatible Signs: | Aries, Aquarius, Leo, Libra |
| Mantra: | "I perceive" |
A Summary of the Sagittarius Zodiac Sign
People born with the Sagittarius zodiac sign are emboldened with a unique mix of confidence and curiosity that drives their propensity to explore new paths to reach their targets.
Whether exploring the western canon of literature by traveling to libraries across the globe or by pushing themselves mentally and physically climbing both real and symbolic mountains, they are determined to set distant goals and reach them through their travels.
Sagittarius is the ninth sign in the zodiac, and those with the sign in their birth chart are known for their love for making the impossible possible, being risk-takers, and being the fun-loving sign of the zodiac.
Many believe that Sagittarius is the luckiest zodiac sign. It is this luck that often makes the impossible seem possible. This same luck makes it seem as though the trick to attaining goals is simple and just a matter of trying.
A person born under the Sagittarius sign is quick to try new things, and this openness and curiosity help to attract opportunities. Ultimately, for a life lived by a Sagittarius, it really is, as the mantra suggests: a matter of perception.
* The dates of each zodiac page change every three years due to the nature of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun—just like a leap year.
Read Your Free Daily Sagittarius Horoscopes
Symbol: Archer (Centaur/Centaurides)
An archer or the mythical centaur symbolically represents Sagittarius. Unlike most astrological signs, Sagittarius’ constellation is unique in that a mythical creature that embodies both human and animal represents it. Comparatively, animals symbolically represent eight of the twelve zodiac signs.
The Sagittarius glyph is often an arrow that is optimistically pointed toward the heavens.
While this constellation’s appearance in the night sky is often compared to a teapot, its name means “archer” in Latin. This sign is often more fully depicted as a centaur with a bow and arrow or simply a male or female archer. The imagery of the archer is straightforward and speaks to the ambition and drive of people born under this sign.
The symbol of a centaur, or its female counterpart centaurides, illustrates more sides to this adventurous zodiac sign. Centaurs are mythological creatures that have a human upper body and horse legs.
Sagittarius was characterized in mythology as being unrestrained as wild or untamed horses despite their human head, arms, and torso. Understanding the Sagittarius star sign through this half-human/half-horse imagery is once again a matter of perception. As understood through the centaur, the Sagittarius sign is as optimistic as the archer but is met with adventurousness and openness on how their unrestrained hooves make their mark.
Element: Fire
Sagittarius is a Fire sign, embodying this element through:
- A strong sense of self
- Self-sufficiency
- Intense passion
- Spontaneous action
Fire signs enjoy spending time with others and lighting up social engagements. They are keen to have things revolve around themselves to help keep the energy high and inspire the group. The Sagittarius sign is quite confident, creative, goal-oriented, and excellent at getting the job done.
To more low-key signs of the zodiac (like Earth or Air signs), Fire signs may seem to always want their own way, act impulsively, and be relatively hot-tempered with occasional outbursts. While not common for a Sagittarius, which the optimistic Jupiter rules, Fire signs may be prone to pessimism.
The other Fire signs are:
Ruling Planet: Jupiter
Jupiter is exactly the planet you would expect to rule over the Sagittarius sign. The planet often jumps out at night, making it easily seen with the naked eye under the moonlight sky.
Jupiter’s natural exhibition better helps us to understand the importance of the perception of Sagittarius.
Jupiter is the ruler of higher education, luck, and optimism, which emboldens this Fire sign even more.
With the help of Jupiter, Sagittarius is a sign of good fortune.
Sagittarius Quadruplicity
The zodiac signs are divided into four elements—Fire, Water, Earth, and Air—and quadruplicities—Cardinal, Mutable or Fixed. The quadruplicities, like the elements, showcase the qualities of the signs and help to give deeper insight into the complexity of each sign.
Sagittarius is a Mutable sign, meaning their Mutable quadruplicity is softer than that of the Cardinal quadruplicity found in its fellow Fire sign, Aries.
Mutable signs are adaptable and are likely to change. These signs enjoy discussing new ideas and are known for being responsible and trustworthy.
Key Personality Characteristics
People born under the Sagittarius sign are optimistic and honest.
In some cases, this optimism met with brutal honesty may come across as disrespectful to more sensitive folks. These misunderstandings can confuse why the person is upset since the intention was to be approachable and genuine.
At times, Sagittarius signs lack a certain level of diplomacy in their effort to be true to themselves and others.
Sagittarians often speak truthfully and openly, whether their honesty is well received or not. Sag is extroverted and needs to explore, grow, learn and travel. They love an audience as well as sharing knowledge. People find Sagittarius witty and enjoy their sense of sarcasm.
At times, this sign might be prone to gossip or over-sharing in the name of full disclosure.
Sagittariuses are free spirits and easily fall in love. In love, their autonomy must be respected. This sign is ambitious and will follow their goals wherever and however.
Top Traits
There are a number of traits and characteristics associated with the Sagittarius sign.
Sagittarius is known for the following:
- Being confident, truthful, and independent
- Confidence
- Their extroverted nature
- Generosity
- Honesty, sometimes to a fault
- Liking to travel
- Interest in philosophy
- Falling in love easily
- Doing their best to be cheerful at all times
- Having a good heart
- A good memory
- Being open-minded.
- A good sense of humor.
- Keeping busy.
- Loyal friendships.
- Love of animals.
Challenges & Weaknesses
Like all human beings across the zodiac, even Sagittarius has less appealing attributes.
Sagittarius can be tactless but can overcome this by listening to the feedback others provide. In some cases, this is being more aware of the nonverbal cues when someone is showing discomfort rather than what is being spoken.
As a Sagittarius, you often have difficulty understanding what motivates others and even their emotions. Take the time to listen and repeat what a Sagittarius has to say. Even if you don’t understand or cannot relate to what the Sagittarius sign is saying, respect that it is their truth and act accordingly.
This sign can sometimes come off as less diplomatic than in their minds. They must take the time to observe a room and the people before speaking. This step will help this sign read the room better, thus avoiding mishaps.
Other negative Sagittarius character traits include:
- An explosive temper
- The tendency to fall out of love easily
- Not knowing how to give compliments
- Being prone to mood swings
- Liking to gamble
- Being rebellious
- Shirking responsibility
- The tendency to be lazy
- Being a bit scatterbrained
Sagittarius During Conflict
The desire for honesty and truth of the Sagittarius sign may sometimes make it difficult to resolve conflict. Sagittarius’ have some challenges understanding the motives and emotions of others, so that that conflict resolution will involve several strategies across contexts.
It is often a matter of understanding what is best for the situation, which is often challenging for a Sagittarius who believes strongly in the importance of truth and honesty.
In the case of conflict and communication, Sagittarius’s philosophical nature and open-mindedness are likely to shine through to help provide perspective by taking the view of the others involved to help minimize the conflict. It takes working through the hot temper to get to this point, but they have the optimism to do it.
Relationships & Sex: Understanding the Sagittarius Lover
When it comes to relationships, Sagittarius signs are a lover of possibilities. To that end, they are more reluctant than other signs of the zodiac to commit to one idea, let alone one person, without feeling a profound sense of freedom and independence in their relationship or decision to commit.
A Sagittarius is a lover and often falls in love frequently; however, they enjoy the independence of open relationships to marriage. Not all want a queue of partners as much as their autonomy in a relationship.
While a strong sign in the zodiac, Sagittarius doesn’t necessarily want the responsibility of another person. As an idealist, they will often seek this out in love and relationships.
The Sagittarius Man
- Optimistic
- Big dreams and lofty goals
- Innovative
- Enthusiastic
- Trusting
- Lucky
- Lots of friends
- Never intentionally cruel
- Always tell you the truth
- Value intelligence
- Always apologize if they realize they are wrong
- Can bring people out of their shells
- Need to feel important
- Don’t like to be alone
- Jump to conclusions
- Don’t think before they act
- Tactless
- Lack consideration for how their words and actions might hurt others
- Have trouble with commitment
- Flirtatious
- Independent
- Miserable when they’re bored
- Critical
The Sagittarius Woman
- Attract attention
- Charming
- Good conversationalists
- Forthright
- Say what’s on their minds
- Optimistic
- Independent
- Don’t hide their thoughts or feelings
- Analytical
- Enthusiastic
- Trust easily
- Know how to get over disappointment and move forward.
- Sentimental
- Good hostesses
- Very encouraging
- Tactless
- Judgmental
- Fiery temper
- Flirtatious
- Vulnerable
- A bit extravagant with money
- Sarcastic
The Sagittarius Child
- Friendly
- Mischievous
- Enthusiastic
- Do not like being alone
- Like to be the center of attention
- Honest
- Curious
- Selfish
- Start to look for romance early in life
- May be very interested in religion
- Like to learn about other places and cultures
- Need a lot of support, but still need to feel they’re independent
- Can be overly needy
- Don’t understand responsibility
- Tactless
- Defiant
- Know when they’re being lied to
- Clumsy
- Need a lot of patience
- Restless and lose interest in things easily
Love Compatibility
Sagittarius is the epitome of a Mutable sign and a Fire one to boot. This sign loves autonomy in love and is not known for traditional lines of fidelity.
Sagittarians love adventure, so if you want to date one, be ready to go on fun and unique dates that will keep their interest peaked.
How to Attract a Sagittarius
To attract a Sagittarius, it is best to be honest and open-minded about what this free-spirited Fire sign has to share.
Be up for an adventure and explore the world with them.
Career & Money: Sagittarius at Work
Unsurprisingly, employees under the Sagittarius sign love to work independently while also being full of ideas they eagerly want to share with the team. A Sagittarius is the curious thinker of any workplace full of questions, not because they don’t understand, but because a Sag wants to learn everything they can.
A Sag is often very philosophical and one of the best signs to have around during brainstorm sessions or goal planning meetings. This sign in the workplace will always want to throw themselves into their work 100% with creativity and passion.
You will see a happy Sagittarius worker working independently to complete a project. They love to dive into their ideas and work them out ultimately, which takes a fair amount of alone time.
While they need their alone time to get comfortable, once you get to know a Sagittarius in the workplace, you will find that they are a great ally in projects. If you find it hard to connect with them, you might have to make the first move in initiating a conversation to see their true fiery side come out.
Birthstones
Sagittarius birthstones include:
- Topaz: represents strength, intellect, and love.
- Amethyst: encourages courage.
- Ruby: protects the wearer, encourages passion.
- Sapphire: symbolizes purity and wisdom.
- Turquoise: brings good fortune, success, and protection.
Influential Sagittarius People & Celebrities
Some famous Sagittarians include:
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- Nicki Minaj
- Jane Fonda
- Jay-Z
- Taylor Swift
- Ben Stiller
- Bruce Lee
- Miley Cyrus
- Brad Pitt
- Scarlet Johansson
- Tina Turner
- John Stewart
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Sarah Silverman
- Zoë Kravitz
- Tyra Banks
- Ian Somerhalder
- Judi Dench
- Jamie Fox
- Chrissy Teigen
- Janelle Monáe