Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2018	Feb. 20, 2018
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jan. 31, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
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
Class A nonvoting common stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		48,208,281
Class B voting common stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		3,538,628