Writing Style Guide: Capitals

Personal names

Use upper case for personal names:

‘Hey Mum, where’s my soccer ball?’

Use lower case for generic or unspecified names:

His mum sighed, before replying, ‘I don’t know Max. Did you leave it at your dad’s house?’

Use upper case for official titles:

the Vice Chancellor the President of the United States of America

Use lower case for non-specific titles and plural references:

Former senators have declared their support …

For centuries, British kings and queens have ruled …

Use upper case when titles are used in direct speech:

‘Is this correct, Professor?’

Use upper case for a title or specified institution:

Kayla, a Southern Cross University student, won two tickets to the Byron Writers Festival.

Use lower case for generic or unspecified institutions or titles:

Several lucky high school students also won tickets to attend the festival.

Use upper case for official geographical names:

the Northern Rivers the Great Barrier Reef

Use lower case for descriptive geographical entities:

southeast Australia northern Italy

Seasons are usually lower case:

summer winter

Common plant and animal names are lower case:

eucalypts camels red-backed wrens

Chemical and disease names are lower case:

oxygen mercury chicken pox

Astronomical names are usually upper case:

Jupiter Mercury the Southern Cross

However, the words earth, sun and moon are capitalised only when they are referred to in a planetary context:

The sun shone brightly…

Earth is the third planet from the Sun.