Date Format: Day Month Year
Day–month–year is a legitimate human-readable date order used by some regional and institutional styles. The Australian Government Style Manual uses forms such as “22 July 2024,” while Microsoft’s house style uses month–day–year; choose the convention that matches your audience and style guide.
Day–month–year is valid where your locale or house style calls for it, for example “22 July 2024.” It is not a universal English date order.
Key details
Important caveats
Contrast Boundary
Other house styles differ; Microsoft, for example, specifies month–day–year. Do not present either order as universal English grammar.
Regional Style
The Australian Government Style Manual uses day–month–year in body text and recommends consistency.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Dates and time — Australian Government Style Manual (opens in a new tab)Australian Government Style Manual · Australian Government guidance for day–month–year dates, ordinal dates, decades, centuries, time zones, and en-dash spacing in date/time spans
- Date and time terms — Microsoft Style Guide (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Microsoft house style for AM/PM and human-facing time notation