Is the moon on the poster the real moon from the day my baby was born?
Yes. When you choose the moon on their birth date, the poster draws the moon as it was in the sky that day, calculated for the date, the time and the time zone you give. It is worked out once, when you order, and stored with the order, so the poster never changes afterwards.
Updated October 9, 2026
How the phase is calculated
The calculation uses Astronomy Engine, an open-source astronomy library, whose phase times we check against the US Naval Observatory's. The disc shows how much of the moon was lit at the moment of birth, or at noon if you leave the time blank. The phase name follows the almanac rule: on a day with a full moon, a new moon or a quarter, the poster says that phase; on other days it names the phase in between, such as a waxing crescent. The moon is drawn as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, which covers the US and Spain.
Designs with and without the real moon
The Moon designs draw the moon large, at the heart of the poster, and on them you can choose a decorative crescent instead of the real phase. The Illustrated designs never draw a moon, but they can print the phase as a short line of text, such as “under a waning crescent moon”, or leave the line off. The free moon phase tool on this site runs the same calculation for any date, so you can look before you buy.
Related questions
Start with the name and date
Type them on the birth poster page and see every design with them. The preview is free.