The State Department has reversed a 2023 font change and ordered diplomats worldwide to use Times New Roman 14-point for official documents, the department said in a statement to NPR. Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed the switch from Calibri to Times New Roman, effective Wednesday, saying consistent formatting strengthens credibility and supports a unified Department identity.
Times New Roman had been the department’s official font from about 2004 until 2023, when then-Secretary Antony Blinken changed the default to Calibri as part of accessibility-focused updates. Rubio’s cable to U.S. embassies and consulates—obtained and reported by news outlets—describes that change as “another wasteful DEIA program,” saying it did not meaningfully reduce the department’s accessibility-related document remediation cases.
Calibri is a sans-serif typeface, meaning it lacks the small decorative strokes—serifs—found on letters in serif fonts like Times New Roman. Accessibility experts say those serifs can make printed text harder to read for some people. Kristen Shinohara, who leads the Center for Accessibility and Inclusion Research at the Rochester Institute of Technology, told NPR that serif flourishes can worsen readability for people with learning or reading disabilities, like dyslexia, and for people with low vision. The Americans with Disabilities Act and related guidance favor sans-serif fonts on physical signage and display screens because they’re generally more legible in those contexts.
The State Department’s statement emphasized formality: “Times New Roman specifically, and serif fonts generally, are more formal and professional,” it said. The department didn’t answer NPR’s questions about whether the change could reduce accessibility for some users.
Historically, Times New Roman was designed for the British newspaper The Times in the 1920s and became widely used in print and in Microsoft programs through the 1990s. Microsoft later made Calibri its default in 2007, citing its design tailored for screens. In 2023 Microsoft replaced Calibri with a new sans-serif, Aptos.
Rubio’s reinstatement of Times New Roman is framed as aligning with President Trump’s February directive, “One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations,” aimed at presenting a unified, professional voice in communications. The move also fits a broader Trump administration pattern of rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives: since taking office, the administration has taken steps to dismantle federal DEI efforts, pressured educational institutions, and prompted some private companies to scale back DEI programs. Rubio has previously eliminated offices and initiatives at the State Department intended to promote inclusion and diversity.
Observers note the change also echoes the administration’s focus on aesthetics and symbolism, from Oval Office redesign choices to proposals for classical architecture on federal projects. The font decision arrives amid other federal actions limiting language and content across agencies—examples include removal of certain health-related webpages at Health and Human Services and guidance at the Department of Energy asking employees to avoid specific terms—adding to a pattern of emphasis on messaging and presentation across the government.