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Chinese Zodiac 1986: Year of the Fire Tiger

February 9, 1986 – January 28, 1987 · Yang

Born January 1 – February 8, 1986? You are a Wood Ox 🐂, because the Tiger year only began at Lunar New Year on February 9.

The 1986 sign

Element
Fire
Yin / Yang
Yang
Lunar New Year
Sunday, Feb 9
Generation
Millennials
Age in 2026
40

The Tiger is said to be brave, confident and competitive.

Tiger compatibility

Best matches (same trine)

🐎 Horse 🐕 Dog

Secret friend

🐖 Pig

Clashes with

🐒 Monkey

Traditional Chinese astrology, for fun.

Other years of the Tiger

Check another year

Born in January or February? Add the month and day — you may belong to the year before, because the Chinese year starts at Lunar New Year.

About the Chinese Zodiac

Chinese Zodiac tells you your animal sign and element from your birth year — and gets it right for January and February birthdays, which most charts miss. The Chinese zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, between January 21 and February 20, so someone born before it belongs to the previous year’s animal. Every year from 1924 to 2035 has a page with its exact start and end dates, its element and yin or yang, and every animal has a page listing its years and its best and worst matches.

How to use it

  1. 1 Enter your birth year, and the month and day if you were born in January or February.
  2. 2 See your animal, element and yin or yang.
  3. 3 Open your year to see when it started and ended.
  4. 4 Check the animals you match and clash with.

Frequently asked questions

What Chinese zodiac is 1986?

1986 is the year of the Fire Tiger (Yang). It began at Lunar New Year on February 9, 1986 and ended on January 28, 1987.

I was born in January 1986 — am I a Tiger?

Only if you were born on or after February 9. Anyone born from January 1 to February 8, 1986 belongs to the previous year: the Wood Ox.

Which signs match the Tiger?

Traditionally the Tiger gets on best with the Horse and the Dog, which share its trine, and with its “secret friend”, the Pig. It clashes with the Monkey.

What are the 12 Chinese zodiac animals in order?

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The cycle repeats every 12 years, and each year also has one of five elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water — giving a full cycle of 60 years.

What is the Chinese zodiac for 2026?

2026 is the year of the Fire Horse. It starts at Lunar New Year on February 17, 2026 and runs until February 5, 2027, when the year of the Fire Goat begins.

Why is my Chinese zodiac different from my birth year?

Because the Chinese zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. If you were born in January or early February before that year’s Lunar New Year, your animal is the one for the year before. Enter your full birth date to check.

Where do the Lunar New Year dates come from?

They are worked out from the Chinese lunisolar calendar (the same calculation used by the Unicode ICU calendar library), which places Lunar New Year on the second new moon after the winter solstice in Chinese time.