Men's Zodiac T-Shirts Guide

A zodiac t-shirt is a tee with the name, symbol or some other representation of a sign of the zodiac. What's your sign? If you are not sure, take a guess — in the Western system it would be one of twelve: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. The shirt takes the humblest garment in menswear, the crew-neck tee, and prints on it the oldest identity system in the sky.

That makes the zodiac tee a close cousin of the other message tees in this guide — team tees, band tees, graphic tees — with one difference: the message is assigned at birth rather than chosen. Buyers wear their own sign, buy a partner's or child's sign as a gift, or collect the glyph they simply like the look of. This guide explains the two zodiac systems you will meet on shirts, then how to buy the shirt underneath the symbol well.

The Western Zodiac on a Shirt

The zodiac is an area of the sky centered upon the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year; the paths of the Moon and the visible planets also remain close to the ecliptic, within the belt of the zodiac. In Western astrology, the astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors of the ecliptic, starting at the vernal equinox — one of the intersections of the ecliptic with the celestial equator — also known as the First Point of Aries. The order of the signs is Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Because the signs are regular 30-degree sectors, they do not correspond exactly to the boundaries of the constellations after which they are named — a detail printed-shirt sellers rarely mention. On shirts, the Western signs appear as glyphs (the ram's horns of Aries, the scales of Libra, the scorpion of Scorpio), as constellation artwork, as full zodiac wheels with all twelve signs around a sun or moon, and as word designs that pair the sign's name with its date range and ruling traits. The glyph-only designs are the most wearable: a small embroidered or printed symbol at the chest reads as a motif, not a horoscope.

The Chinese Zodiac on a Shirt

Unlike the Western or Indian zodiacs, the Chinese zodiac signs are not derived from constellations and are not assigned to sections of the ecliptic. Instead, Chinese astrological signs operate on cycles of years, lunar months and two-hour periods of the day, known as shichen. In Chinese astrology the zodiac of twelve animal signs represents twelve different types of personality: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. A Chinese-zodiac tee therefore names your birth year rather than your birth month — which is why the animal shirts surge every Lunar New Year, when a new animal's year begins.

A particular feature of the Chinese zodiac is its operation in a 60-year cycle in combination with the Five Phases of Chinese astrology — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water — so a full design can name both the animal and its element, as in a Wood Dragon or Metal Rat year. Some research also notes an obvious relationship between the Chinese 12-year cycle and the zodiac constellations: each year of the cycle corresponds to a certain disposal of Jupiter — in the year of Snake Jupiter is in the Sign of Gemini, in the year of Horse Jupiter is in the Sign of Cancer, and so on — making the Chinese 12-year calendar a solar-lunar-jovian calendar. On a shirt, expect calligraphy, paper-cut style animals and red-and-gold palettes alongside the Western glyphs.

Choosing and Caring for a Sign Tee

Check the sign before the size. Date ranges for the Western signs are printed on many shirts, and the cusp dates vary by a day between sources — if the wearer was born on a cusp, verify which sign the shirt claims before buying it as a gift. For Chinese animal shirts, remember the year turns at Lunar New Year, not on January 1, so a January or February birthday may belong to the previous year's animal.

Then judge the tee as a tee. Screen printing suits the bold glyphs and wheels; discharge printing keeps dark shirts soft; embroidery upgrades a small chest glyph. Midweight cotton holds a large wheel print without twisting; lighter jersey suits a small symbol. Wash printed tees inside out in cold water and keep them out of high dryer heat, which cracks prints and fades the deep navies and blacks these celestial designs favor. Chosen with the right sign and cared for that way, a zodiac tee outlasts the horoscope column that inspired it — the twelve signs have been selling shirts, in one form or another, for a very long time.