U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed the State Department to replace Calibri with Times New Roman as the official font for diplomatic communications, according to a leaked memo obtained by The New York Times.
The memo cited a desire to “restore decorum and professionalism” to official documents. Calibri, a sans-serif font, was adopted in 2023 during the Biden administration. It was chosen by the State Department’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) office, which has since been disbanded.
The New York Times reported that Calibri was selected to improve document readability for individuals with visual impairments. Sans-serif fonts, characterized by the absence of decorative lines at the ends of letters, are considered by some to be more accessible due to their cleaner appearance and wider spacing. Research on their effectiveness remains inconclusive.
Rubio noted in the memo that while Calibri was not the “most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful” DEIA-related measure, he viewed its adoption as contributing to “the degradation” of the department’s official communications.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to The New York Times, there was internal dissent in 2023 when the department first adopted Calibri. Font preferences can be divisive, and opinions on typefaces often evoke strong reactions similar to those associated with sports team loyalty.
Times New Roman, a serif font, is widely seen as traditional. The New York Times has not used it as its primary font in nearly two decades. Calibri did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
