Chinese Zodiac 2026: Year of the Horse, Animals, Years, and Meanings

Chinese zodiac calendar showing the 12 zodiac animals, their personality traits, and zodiac years from 2025 to 2036, with 2026 marked as the Year of the Horse and early-2026 births belonging to the Year of the Snake

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Chinese Zodiac 2026: What Animal Year Is It?

The Chinese zodiac year for 2026 is the Year of the Horse. People born in January and early February 2026 are still born in the Year of the Snake.

The Chinese Zodiac is a repeating 12-year cycle of animals, with each year linked to a specific animal, forming the Chinese zodiac years and their traditional personality traits. The animals are those who took part in the Jade Emperor's Great Race.

Chinese New Year marks the start of a new Chinese zodiac year, which is why the Chinese zodiac sign for 2026 changes in February rather than January.

The Chinese lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon—lunisolar—meaning the New Year shifts slightly each year. Also known as the Spring Festival, the New Year marks the shift between Winter and Spring. It begins on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February, typically falling between late January and mid-February. Celebrations continue until the Lantern Festival, 15 days later.

Chinese Zodiac Animals and Personality Traits

Each Chinese zodiac sign is thought to shape the personality of those born in that year. If you were born in the Year of the Rat, you might be quick-witted and charming, while those born in the Year of the Dragon are often confident and enthusiastic.

I always forget the full list of Chinese New Year animals—it's one of those things that's beyond 7 ± 2 and just won't stick in my head. So here it is, for future reference:

Rat — Charming, Quick-witted
Ox — Patient, Determined
Tiger — Brave, Competitive
Rabbit — Gentle, Compassionate
Dragon — Confident, Enthusiastic
Snake — Wise, Intuitive
Horse — Energetic, Independent
Goat (Sheep) — Calm, Creative
Monkey — Witty, Curious
Rooster — Hardworking, Observant
Dog — Loyal, Honest
Pig — Generous, Diligent

The Legend of the Great Race: Why These 12 Animals?

The Chinese zodiac animals are from an old legend: the Great Race. The Jade Emperor, Chinese mythology's ruler of all gods, hosted a great race across a river. The first 12 animals to finish would earn a place in the Chinese zodiac calendar.

Cat and Rat, who were friends, hitched a ride on the back of Ox, who slowly swam through the river's deep water. As they crossed, Rat moved, knocking Cat into the river, but it was too dangerous to go back. As Ox neared the other bank, Rat jumped off, swimming the final metres and winning first place. Meanwhile, Dragon, despite being powerful, stopped to help others and finished fifth. Cat was left behind and finished last with a new dislike for rats.

Variations in Other Countries

Not all countries use the exact same Chinese zodiac signs. Vietnam, for example, swaps out two animals:

The Rabbit is replaced by the Cat
The Ox is replaced by the Water Buffalo

Chinese New Year Symbols and Traditions

Chinese New Year is full of traditions designed to bring good fortune:

Red envelopes (hóngbāo) – Given to children and unmarried adults, filled with money as a symbol of luck and prosperity.
Lanterns – Hung up or released into the sky, symbolizing brightness and good fortune.
Firecrackers – Set off to scare away evil spirits and welcome the Lunar New Year with a bang.
Red and gold – The most common colours in Chinese New Year decorations, representing happiness, wealth, and good luck.

Other beliefs and traditions include:

washing your hair can wash out your luck for the year
giving oranges and tangerines to hosts as symbols of abundant happiness
sweeping and cleaning the house to sweep away ill fortune
decorating windows and doors with red paint, paper cutouts and banners
giving respect and honour to gods and ancestors.

Chinese Zodiac List from 2026 to 1945

Not sure of your animal or your child's? You can find yours in this list (unless you're over 80).

The list shows what Chinese zodiac year each calendar year belongs to, including which animal represents 2026.

If your birthday is before the Chinese New Year in January, then your animal will belong to the year before (rather like for birthday creep).

2027 – Goat

2026 – Horse

2025 – Snake

2024 – Dragon

2023 – Rabbit

2022 – Tiger

2021 – Ox

2020 – Rat

2019 – Pig

2018 – Dog

2017 – Rooster

2016 – Monkey

2015 – Goat

2014 – Horse

2013 – Snake

2012 – Dragon

2011 – Rabbit

2010 – Tiger

2009 – Ox

2008 – Rat

2007 – Pig

2006 – Dog

2005 – Rooster

2004 – Monkey

2003 – Goat

2002 – Horse

2001 – Snake

2000 – Dragon

1999 – Rabbit

1998 – Tiger

1997 – Ox

1996 – Rat

1995 – Pig

1994 – Dog

1993 – Rooster

1992 – Monkey

1991 – Goat

1990 – Horse

1989 – Snake

1988 – Dragon

1987 – Rabbit

1986 – Tiger

1985 – Ox

1984 – Rat

1983 – Pig

1982 – Dog

1981 – Rooster

1980 – Monkey

1979 – Goat

1978 – Horse

1977 – Snake

1976 – Dragon

1975 – Rabbit

1974 – Tiger

1973 – Ox

1972 – Rat

1971 – Pig

1970 – Dog

1969 – Rooster

1968 – Monkey

1967 – Goat

1966 – Horse

1965 – Snake

1964 – Dragon

1963 – Rabbit

1962 – Tiger

1961 – Ox

1960 – Rat

1959 – Pig

1958 – Dog

1957 – Rooster

1956 – Monkey

1955 – Goat

1954 – Horse

1953 – Snake

1952 – Dragon

1951 – Rabbit

1950 – Tiger

1949 – Ox

1948 – Rat

1947 – Pig

1946 – Dog

1945 – Rooster

A few clarifying notes about the Chinese Zodiac and 2026

2026 is the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac, as the Horse year begins in February 2026.
People born in January or early February 2026 are still born in the Year of the Snake, as Chinese zodiac years begin at Chinese New Year in February, not on 1 January.

Caveat: I am not Chinese or Asian and have gathered this information from many sources over the years. Let me know if something needs correcting.

Others

The Chinese zodiac years are one of those things I feel like I ought to remember but always forget. Others in the same bucket for me:

May 2025: I updated the original image to switch around the orientation of the red envelopes, which are more traditionally portrait than landscape

Published 2 Feb 2025

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"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." This quote, commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw, though probably not from him, highlights one of the lovely things about ideas. They behave differently from physical things. They're not exclusive; they're additive and abundant. Ideas Don't Behave the Same as Apples Though we talk about intellectual property, ideas don't behave like property in the usual sense. One of the simplest ways to see the difference between ideas and objects is to look at what happens when we share them. I can give you an idea, and we both have the idea, but if I give you my apple, then I no longer have one. This also makes ideas very hard to take back once they are out. Ideas are harder to control than objects. Because ideas are abstract—they don't exist in a physical form—we use conceptual metaphor to talk and reason about them. What follows are some of my favourite examples of how we think about ideas, drawn primarily from Philosophy in the Flesh and the very readable Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. The Ideas Are Objects Metaphor Metaphors are how we talk about abstract concepts, like an idea. And the Ideas Are Objects metaphor is one of the most common ways we understand them. This means that a lot of how we talk about apples and ideas overlap. So I can: give you an idea (or an apple), and maybe you'll grasp it, or perhaps it might go over your head Ideas can be: solid or weak shared or hoarded fragile or bulletproof cheap or gold Thinking Is Object Manipulation Because you can examine objects and manipulate them, we have the metaphor Thinking Is Object Manipulation. When you think about an idea, you might: play with it toss it around see if it sticks share it with others try to break it When you communicate with someone, you exchange ideas. you can give an idea get an idea across Together with the Mind Is a Body metaphor (mental exercise), a teacher might try to: put an idea into students' minds fill them up during the term see how much they've retained And I've certainly employed cramming before a test. 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Unhelpful ideas are unhealthy, and helpful ideas are healthy, so they might be: raw fresh half-baked sweet Or an idea might be: rotten disgusting or unsavory unpalatable hard to digest Or they might: smell fishy leave a bad taste in your mouth Or perhaps they need to be: put on the back burner chewed on for a while sugar-coated Significant ideas are: meaty something to chew on let stew for a while So What Are Ideas Really Like? So, given all this talk about Ideas As Objects, it's easy to assume that ideas should behave like them. But before they take on a physical form — say, as a building or product — they don't behave the same as objects. Hopefully, this sketch conveys this idea to you while keeping it with me, too. I think a more suitable conceptualisation is the magical powers of software with its infinite copy/paste. As software becomes more of our daily experience, we might gradually adopt more accurate metaphors for how ideas actually behave. 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Here are some: Rivers and Buckets Muddy Puddles and Leaky Ceilings Pace Layers The Trust Battery The Spectrum Policy The Overton Window The Johari Window Don't Think of an Elephant Lateral Thinking Compliments Are Gifts Looking Under the Lamppost The Learning Pit The Frog Boil Metaphor Sharpen the Saw (poor trees) Eat the Frog (poor frogs) Chickens and Pigs (poor pigs) Metaphors for Ideas Here's a print of the apples and ideas quote by itself"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." This quote, commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw, though probably not from him, highlights one of the lovely things about ideas. They behave differently from physical things. They're not exclusive; they're additive and abundant. Ideas Don't Behave the Same as Apples Though we talk about intellectual property, ideas don't behave like property in the usual sense. One of the simplest ways to see the difference between ideas and objects is to look at what happens when we share them. I can give you an idea, and we both have the idea, but if I give you my apple, then I no longer have one. This also makes ideas very hard to take back once they are out. Ideas are harder to control than objects. Because ideas are abstract—they don't exist in a physical form—we use conceptual metaphor to talk and reason about them. What follows are some of my favourite examples of how we think about ideas, drawn primarily from Philosophy in the Flesh and the very readable Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. The Ideas Are Objects Metaphor Metaphors are how we talk about abstract concepts, like an idea. And the Ideas Are Objects metaphor is one of the most common ways we understand them. This means that a lot of how we talk about apples and ideas overlap. So I can: give you an idea (or an apple), and maybe you'll grasp it, or perhaps it might go over your head Ideas can be: solid or weak shared or hoarded fragile or bulletproof cheap or gold Thinking Is Object Manipulation Because you can examine objects and manipulate them, we have the metaphor Thinking Is Object Manipulation. When you think about an idea, you might: play with it toss it around see if it sticks share it with others try to break it When you communicate with someone, you exchange ideas. you can give an idea get an idea across Together with the Mind Is a Body metaphor (mental exercise), a teacher might try to: put an idea into students' minds fill them up during the term see how much they've retained And I've certainly employed cramming before a test. Because Understanding Is Grasping—having an idea under control—when you don't understand something, it might: be slippery resist definition—has no shape be beyond your grasp As Thinking Is Object Manipulation, you can work on an idea: reshape it craft it fashion it analyse it by taking it apart deconstruct it Together with Knowing Is Seeing, we can: Turn an idea over to see both sides of it hold it up to scrutiny shine a light on it put it under the microscope Ideas Are Food and Acquiring Ideas Is Eating Another fun and common metaphor for ideas is rather more like apples. If the Mind Is a Body, then we need to feed it healthy, nutritious food. I like to think readers of Sketchplanations have an insatiable curiosity. In much of our reasoning, then, ideas are a special kind of object—they are our food for thought. Unhelpful ideas are unhealthy, and helpful ideas are healthy, so they might be: raw fresh half-baked sweet Or an idea might be: rotten disgusting or unsavory unpalatable hard to digest Or they might: smell fishy leave a bad taste in your mouth Or perhaps they need to be: put on the back burner chewed on for a while sugar-coated Significant ideas are: meaty something to chew on let stew for a while So What Are Ideas Really Like? So, given all this talk about Ideas As Objects, it's easy to assume that ideas should behave like them. But before they take on a physical form — say, as a building or product — they don't behave the same as objects. Hopefully, this sketch conveys this idea to you while keeping it with me, too. I think a more suitable conceptualisation is the magical powers of software with its infinite copy/paste. As software becomes more of our daily experience, we might gradually adopt more accurate metaphors for how ideas actually behave. These are not the only metaphors we use across languages for understanding and reasoning about ideas and thinking, Ideas Are Locations, and Thinking Is Moving in particular ("I don't follow you"). There are many. Do check out Metaphors We Live By if you're curious for more (or Philosophy in the Flesh if you really want to get stuck in). Thanks to Franc M for suggesting this one. Related Ideas and Metaphor Sketches Also see: Primary metaphor A Teacher is a DJ for Learning Since I cover a lot of abstract concepts, many of my sketches share and make use of metaphors. Here are some: Rivers and Buckets Muddy Puddles and Leaky Ceilings Pace Layers The Trust Battery The Spectrum Policy The Overton Window The Johari Window Don't Think of an Elephant Lateral Thinking Compliments Are Gifts Looking Under the Lamppost The Learning Pit The Frog Boil Metaphor Sharpen the Saw (poor trees) Eat the Frog (poor frogs) Chickens and Pigs (poor pigs) Metaphors for Ideas Here's a print of the apples and ideas quote by itself

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