yes every year there is a different zodiac.
Capricorn
The Chinese zodiac starts with the year of the rat.
It is one of the zodiac animals, and is the designated zodiac animal for 2012 (and 2024, 2036, etc.)
The Chinese zodiac is based on a twelve year cycle. The year is lunar based, starting on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The western zodiac and the Amerind earth magic zodiac are based on a twelve month cycle.
The Chinese zodiac symbol for 2012 is the Dragon.Chinese New Year starts on Monday, January 23rd.
If a personis born on New Year's Eve their Sun sign will be Capricorn.
2008 was the Chinese Zodiac's year of the Rat.
It would be the year of the Tiger. The Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year, and the zodiac year (and hence the zodiac sign) change during the passing of the Lunar New Year, which takes place in either January or February, which is why there are two zodiac animals. However, the main animal would be the Tiger.
there is no zodiac for the year you were born
In 2013, after the Chinese New Year, it will be the Year of the Snake.
The Chinese Zodiac follows the Chinese calendar rather than the Gregorian one, and hence the animal will change over Chinese New Year rather than January 1.Therefore for 1990:from Jan 1 to Jan 26, the zodiac was the snake;from Jan 27 (CNY 1990) to Dec 31, the zodiac was the horse.
The Zodiac representative on the placemats in Chinese restaurants is the Chinese Zodiac which runs from February of one year to February of the next year. The Chinese Zodiac is different than the Western Zodiac we are familiar with.