Does your calendar show a ‘perfect’ February? Here’s what that means
For those who begin their week on a Sunday, February 2026 is a ‘perfect’ or ‘rectangular’ month. Discover what that means
Those who enjoy visual symmetry or things neatly aligned are in luck, because February 2026 is a “perfect month” – with four full weeks fitting into four exact rows.
Also known as a “rectangular month”, this is a rare calendar phenomenon in which the 28 days of a common, or non-leap, February present a perfect rectangular structure on the calendar grid, with the first day falling on the first cell on the first row and the last on the very last cell on the final row.
February 2026 is only perfectly aligned in certain parts of the world. Within the Gregorian calendar – used in most parts of the world – the days of the week can start on Sunday or Monday, depending on local culture and custom.
In the Western traditional system, which is used in Hong Kong, the week typically begins on a Sunday. The last perfect month that began on a Sunday was in 2015, and the last perfect month that began on a Monday was in 2021.
The ISO 8601 system, an international standard of date- and time-related data globally prevalent since 1988, begins the week on a Monday. This is widely used around the world, including in mainland China, most of Oceania and Europe.