Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2019	Sep. 03, 2019	Jan. 31, 2019
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jul. 31, 2019
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
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 Public Float			$ 2,066,417,510
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Small Business	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Class A Nonvoting Common Stock [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		49,459,620
Class B Voting Common Stock [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		3,538,628