Subject:
Return to Tradition:  Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper

1. This is an Action Request.  See para 4.

2. Secretary Rubio has directed the Department to use Times New Roman 14-point font as the standard font for official papers.  This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications.  Whether for internal memoranda, papers prepared for principals, or documents shared externally, consistent formatting strengthens credibility and supports a unified Department identity.

3. In diplomatic communications, presentation is part of the message.  Typography shapes how official documents are perceived in terms of cohesion, professionalism, and formality.  Serif typefaces remain the standard in courts, legislatures, and across federal agencies where the permanence and authority of the written record are paramount.  Aligning the Department’s practice with this standard ensures our communications reflect the same dignity, consistency, and formality expected in official government correspondence.

4. ACTION REQUEST: Effective December 10, all paper submitted to the Executive Secretariat (“the Line”) for Department principals must use Times New Roman, 14-point font.  Templates on the Executive Secretariat InfoLink website will be updated on December 9.  Domestic bureaus, offices, and posts overseas also should adopt Times New Roman as the standard font for all requested paper.  Offices should review templates, guidance documents, and work aids to ensure conformity.  SMART formatting standards will be updated accordingly.  References to Calibri in 5 FAH-1 H-414, 5 FAH-1 H-621, and 5 FAH-1 Exhibit H-513.2(1) should be disregarded and will be updated to reflect the return to Times New Roman.

5. EXCEPTIONS: Materials prepared by L/T (Treaty Affairs) and by PAS (Presidential Appointments) for the President’s signature should continue to use Courier New 12 Per 15 FAH-1 H-124; 5 FAH-1 H-321(b).

Background

6. According to the Foreign Affairs Handbook, a “classic serif face . . . is appropriate to the Department’s dignity and position as a senior cabinet-level department.” (5 FAH-7 H-126(a))  Accordingly, “Times New Roman 14 pitch is the Department’s standard font and size.  This font must be used for all written materials prepared for Department Principal Officers.”

7. Typography affects the authority and solemnity of written text:  “The Department typeface is an important element of Department identification.” 5 FAH-7 H-126 (“DEPARTMENT TYPEFACE”).  For example, “Department of State letterheads must project a sense of dignity and efficiency . . . that is appropriate to the dignity and stature of the Department.” (5 FAH-7 H-131)

8. With their origins in Roman antiquity, serif typefaces are generally perceived to connote tradition, formality, and ceremony.  When redesigning Air Force One, President John F. Kennedy reportedly chose Caslon, a serif typeface, for the famous “United States of America” label emblazoned on the plane because it was similar to the font used in the early printed version of the Declaration of Independence.  Serif typefaces or “fonts” are typefaces that have “short lines added to the ends of the strokes that make the letters, while the ends of sans-serif letters are straight and unadorned.” See 5 FAH-8 H-522.4‑1.  5 FAH-8 H-522.4-1 (“Fonts are specific variations of a typeface.   . . .  Through common use, the word font has come to mean both typeface and font.”)

9. These typefaces are used by the White House, the Supreme Court of the United States, and many state and federal government entities.  Serif typefaces are also the preferred typefaces at the Department of State.  See 5 FAH-7 H-126(a)–(c) (“The type family used to formally identify the Department is Bodoni.  This type has a classic serif face which is appropriate to the Department’s dignity and position as a senior cabinet-level department.  Bodoni is also a clear and easy to read typeface which is readily available.  . . . The other typefaces approved for use in Department publications are Palatino, Times Roman, Century Expanded, Helvetica [a sans-serif typeface], and New Century Schoolbook.”)  Accordingly, the Department has favored serif typefaces throughout its modern history.  Beginning with the adoption of typewriters more than 100 years ago and then computers more recently, the Department used monospaced serif typefaces and Courier.  Finally, in 2004, the Department deemed Times New Roman to be its standard font and relied on it for nearly twenty years.

10. But in 2023 the Department picked Calibri, a sans serif font, because it “was recommended as an accessibility best practice by the Secretary’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.”  (Reftel)  However, compared to serif typefaces, Calibri is informal.  When used in official correspondence, Calibri clashes with the formal font of the Department’s letterhead.  And although switching to Calibri was not among the Department’s most illegal, immoral, radical, or wasteful instances of DEIA (see, e.g., Executive Orders 14151, 14173, 14281, and Memorandum on Removing Discrimination and Discriminatory Equity Ideology From the Foreign Service (DCPD202500375)) it was nonetheless cosmetic:  the switch was promised to mitigate “accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities,” and employees were promised, “Your adoption supports the Department’s commitment to create a more accessible workplace,” but these promises were false.  In fact, the number of accessibility-based document remediation cases at the Department of State was the same in the year after adopting Calibri as in the year before (1,192 cases in FY2024 versus 1,193 cases in FY2022).  And the costs of remediation actually increased by $145,000 in that period – nearly a 20% jump.  Switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the Department’s official correspondence.  So, to restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface.