Date and time notation in the United States
| Full date | March 14, 2026 14 March 2026 |
|---|---|
| All-numeric date | 03/14/2026 2026-03-14 14 03 26 14 03 2026 |
| Time | 9:03 pm 21:03 |
Date and time notation in the United States differs from that used in nearly all other countries. It is inherited from one historical branch of conventions from the United Kingdom. American styles of notation have also influenced customs of date notation in Canada, creating confusion in international commerce.
In traditional American usage, dates are written in the month–day–year order (e.g. March 14, 2026) with a comma before and after the year if it is not at the end of a sentence, and time is written in 12-hour notation (e.g. 9:03 pm).
International date and time formats typically follow the ISO 8601 format (2026-03-14) for all-numeric dates, write the time using the 24-hour clock (21:03), and notate the date using a day–month–year format (14 March 2026). These forms are increasingly common in American professional, academic, technological, military, and other internationally oriented environments.