Mordad — month 5 of the Persian year

The month at a glance

Month number

5

In Iranian usage

Mordad

In Afghan usage

Asad, or borj 5

Length

31 days

Gregorian window

July 22 to August 23

This month shares its Afghan name with a zodiac sign. What the tradition carries for the sign is on the sign's own page; this page is about the month.

Read about Leo, the sign

Mordad and Asad: one month, two naming systems

Month 5 of the Solar Hijri calendar has two names. In Iranian usage it is Mordad. In Afghan usage it is Asad. Both names belong to the same month of the same calendar, and neither is a nickname or a variant of the other.

In Afghan usage the traditional borj names are the month names, and those names are also the names of the zodiac signs. Alongside the name, a month is commonly referred to by its number, and that is the convention behind a question like «برج ۵». Borj 5 is the fifth month of the year, which is this one: Asad, Mordad.

The calendar underneath both naming systems is a single calendar. Iran and Afghanistan share the same month boundaries, the same month lengths, and the same leap rule. A day that falls in Mordad falls in Asad. Only the naming differs.

Where the month falls in the Persian year

This is a summer month, sitting in the later part of the Persian summer. The month before it is Tir, called Saratan. The month after it is Shahrivar, called Sunbula. By the time it begins, the year is well past its start at the vernal equinox and still some way from the turn toward autumn.

It runs 31 days, every year, in both naming systems. Its length does not shift with the leap year: the month whose length varies is the last month of the year, Esfand, called Hut, and not this one.

Why its Gregorian dates are not the same every year

The Persian year does not begin on a fixed Gregorian day. It begins at the vernal equinox, an astronomical moment that arrives at a slightly different point each year, while the Gregorian calendar keeps its own separate reckoning of leap days. The month lengths are set by the calendar's own rule; the alignment with the Gregorian year is set by the equinox.

So the Gregorian date this month begins on is determined rather than chosen, and it moves within a narrow window. Across the 101 consecutive Persian years covered here, 1329 to 1429 — the Gregorian years 1950 to 2050 — the month began on 22 to 24 July and ended on 21 to 23 August. Over that whole span there are only 3 distinct start dates.

This is why a printed calendar that gives one fixed Gregorian range for the month is right in most years and wrong in the rest. The table below sets out the documented years, grouped by the date on which the month began.

When Mordad began

The month lengths are set by the calendar's own rule, but the year starts at the spring equinox — so the Gregorian day this month begins on is not the same every year.

Across the 101 years below, Mordad began on 3 different Gregorian dates. A calendar printed with one fixed range is right for most of them and wrong for the rest.

From 1950-07-23 to 2050-08-22.

1. July 22

   20 yearsEnded August 21.

   1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2029, 2032, 2033, 2036, 2037, 2040, 2041, 2044, 2045, 2048, 2049

2. July 23

   78 yearsEnded August 22.

   1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2030, 2031, 2034, 2035, 2038, 2039, 2042, 2043, 2046, 2047, 2050

3. July 24

   3 yearsEnded August 23.

   1951, 1955, 1959

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