The animal symbol of the year 2024 in the Chinese zodiac was the dragon. More specifically, 2024 was the Year of the Wood Dragon, beginning with Lunar New Year on February 10, 2024, rather than on January 1.
The Chinese zodiac assigns one of twelve animals to each year in a repeating cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The dragon is the only legendary creature in the sequence and traditionally represents power, strength, good fortune, and imperial authority.
Each animal year is paired with one of five elements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water. The animal-element combinations repeat every 60 years, so the previous Wood Dragon year was 1964. The next Wood Dragon year will arrive in 2084.
A common mix-up is treating the zodiac year as beginning on January 1. In Chinese calendrical tradition, the animal changes at Lunar New Year, whose date varies between late January and February. People born before February 10, 2024 generally belong to the previous Rabbit year under the usual New Year calculation, while those born from Lunar New Year onward belong to the Dragon year.