Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2014	Jan. 31, 2014	Sep. 24, 2014 Class A nonvoting common stock [Member]	Sep. 24, 2014 Class B voting common stock [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jul. 31, 2014
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2014
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	BRC
Entity Registrant Name	BRADY CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000746598
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--07-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			47,708,274	3,538,628
Entity Public Float		$ 1,258,833,135