Old English Text MT Font: Free Alternatives & Uses
If you've ever made a certificate, a newspaper-style header or a chicano-style tattoo sketch on a Windows PC, you've probably used Old English Text MT. It's the default "medieval" font most people know, and it's why the whole blackletter style gets called "Old English" in the US.
Where Old English Text MT comes from
The font is published by Monotype and ships with Windows and Microsoft Office. It's based on early 20th-century revivals of English blackletter, which themselves trace back to the heavy, angular scripts printers used in the 1400s and 1500s.
Can I use Old English Text MT commercially?
Using it inside a document you print on a licensed Windows machine is fine. Things get murkier for logos, T-shirts you sell, embedding it on a website or sending the file to a printer. Those uses can need a separate license from Monotype. If you're making something to sell, the simplest route is a free font with an open license.
Free fonts that look like Old English Text MT
| Font | How close | License |
|---|---|---|
| UnifrakturMaguntia | Very close in weight and texture | SIL OFL |
| UnifrakturCook | Bolder, great for headlines | SIL OFL |
| Pirata One | Narrower, more modern | SIL OFL |
| Grenze Gotisch | Cleaner Textura feel | SIL OFL |
You can preview all of them with your own text in the Old English font generator and download a PNG.
Old English text without any font
Want the look in an Instagram bio or Discord name? Fonts won't help there, because those apps don't let you pick fonts. Use the Old English text generator, which outputs Unicode blackletter characters like ๐๐ฉ๐ก ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฅ that paste anywhere.
Tips for setting Old English type
- Use Title Case. Capitals in a row are very hard to read.
- Go big. Blackletter details disappear at small sizes.
- Pair it with a plain serif for body text.