Birthstones, birth flowers, and zodiac by month

The full year in one chart

Every value below comes from the same sourced dataset that powers the month cards above, so the chart doubles as a quick answer sheet when you only need one field.

Why birthstone lists are not all identical

Birthstone lists are usually traced to the twelve stones named in the Aaronic breastplate in Exodus, but the month-by-month custom used today is much later. Older lists varied by region, language, and religious tradition, so a single month can have a traditional stone, a modern jewelry-trade stone, and extra alternatives that are still commonly printed in charts.

The modern U.S. list was standardized in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association, now commonly discussed through Jewelers of America and AGTA history. Later updates added or promoted stones where supply, price, durability, or consumer familiarity made the old choice hard to use. That is why June can show pearl, alexandrite, and moonstone, while August and December often have several valid entries.

This tool keeps the fields separate: traditional stone, modern stone, alternate stones, birth flower, alternate flower, color, and zodiac signs. The stone citations point to GIA and the American Gem Society, while flower entries use Society of American Florists material and a month-by-month flower chart for alternates.

Picking a stone that survives daily wear

Hardness matters more than color once a stone lives on a hand. The Mohs scale runs from 1 to 10, and everyday grit contains quartz at hardness 7, so anything softer than 7 slowly collects scratches in a ring. Diamond sits at 10, ruby and sapphire (both corundum) at 9, and topaz at 8. Emerald and aquamarine, both beryl, land around 7.5 to 8, while the quartz stones amethyst and citrine sit at 7, right on the practical threshold.

Below that line, placement matters. Garnet and peridot fall just under 7 and cope with careful ring wear. Opal, turquoise, and tanzanite scratch noticeably faster, and pearl, an organic gem at roughly 2.5 to 4.5, belongs in earrings or a necklace rather than a daily ring. One extra caution: emerald is hard but commonly included, so it chips more readily than its hardness number suggests. When a month offers a traditional and a modern stone, this is often the deciding factor between them.

Budget follows the same fork. Where a month lists two stones, the modern entry is frequently the pricier or rarer pick, so the traditional stone or a listed alternate gives a gift the same calendar legitimacy at a friendlier cost. December is the clearest case: turquoise, tanzanite, and zircon are all correct answers for the month, yet they occupy very different price brackets and care requirements.

Birthstone questions, answered