August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days.
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August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days.
In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August falls in summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the month falls during winter. In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers. Numerous religious holidays occurred during August in ancient Rome.
Certain meteor showers take place in August. The Kappa Cygnids occur in August, with yearly dates varying. The Alpha Capricornids meteor shower occurs as early as 10 July and ends around 10 August. The Southern Delta Aquariids occur from mid-July to mid-August, with the peak usually around 28–29 July. The Perseids, a major meteor shower, typically takes place between 17 July and 24 August, with the peak days varying yearly. The star cluster of Messier 30 is best observed around August.
Among the aborigines of the Canary Islands, especially among the Guanches of Tenerife, the month of August received the name of Beñesmer or Beñesmen, which was also the harvest festival held that month.
The month was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the 6th month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 46 BC (AUC 708), giving it its modern length of 31 days.
In 8 BC, the month was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus. According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis had 31 days before it was renamed. It was not chosen for its length.
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Symbols
August's birthstones are the peridot, sardonyx, and spinel.
Its birth flower is the gladiolus or poppy, meaning beauty, strength of character, love, marriage and family. The Western zodiac signs are Leo (until 22 August) and Virgo (from 23 August onward).
Observances
This list does not necessarily imply official status or general observance.
Non-Gregorian: 2026 dates
(All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at sundown before the listed date and end at sundown on the date in question unless otherwise noted.)
List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar
List of observances set by the Chinese calendar
List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar
List of observances set by the Islamic calendar
List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar
Month-long
Women's Month (South Africa)
American Adventures Month (celebrates vacationing in the Americas)
Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
Digestive Tract Paralysis (DTP) Month
Get Ready for Kindergarten Month
Happiness Happens Month
National Language Month or Buwan ng Wika (Philippines)
National History Month or Buwan ng Kasaysayan (Philippines)
Neurosurgery Outreach Month
Psoriasis Awareness Month
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
What Will Be Your Legacy Month
National Black Business Month
National Children's Vision and Learning Month
National Immunization Awareness Month
National Princess Peach Month
National Water Quality Month
National Win with Civility Month
National Catfish Month
National Dippin' Dots Month
Family meals Month
National Goat Cheese Month.
Moveable Gregorian
National Science Week (Australia)
Ugly Potato Day (Canada)
See also Movable Western Christian observances
See also Movable Eastern Christian observances
Construction Holiday (Quebec)
Food Day (Canada)
Mead Day (United States)
National Mustard Day (United States)
Air Force Day (Ukraine)
American Family Day (Arizona, United States)
Children's Day (Uruguay)
Friendship Day (United States)
International Forgiveness Day
Railway Workers' Day (Russia)
National Farmer's Market Week (United States)
August Public Holiday (Ireland)
Children's Day (Tuvalu)
Civic Holiday (Canada)
British Columbia Day (British Columbia, Canada)
Natal Day (Nova Scotia, Canada)
New Brunswick Day (New Brunswick, Canada)
Saskatchewan Day (Saskatchewan, Canada
Fixed Gregorian
Season of Emancipation (Barbados) (14 April to 23 August)
International Clown Week (1–7 August)
World Breastfeeding Week (1–7 August)
1 August
Armed Forces Day (China)
Armed Forces Day (Lebanon)
Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet Day (Azerbaijan)
Emancipation Day (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands)
