diff --git a/docs/themes.rst b/docs/themes.rst
index 1e003967..ddf509f8 100644
--- a/docs/themes.rst
+++ b/docs/themes.rst
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Sorting
 -------
 
 URL wrappers (currently categories, tags, and authors), have
-comparison methods that allow them to be easily sorted by name:
+comparison methods that allow them to be easily sorted by name::
 
     {% for tag, articles in tags|sort %}
 
@@ -87,6 +87,24 @@ command`__ has a number of options.
 
 __ http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/templates/#sort
 
+
+Date Formatting
+---------------
+
+Pelican formats the date with according to your settings and locale 
+(``DATE_FORMATS``/``DEFAULT_DATE_FORMAT``) and provides a 
+``locale_date`` attribute. On the other hand, ``date`` attribute will
+be a `datetime`_ object. If you need custom formatting for a date 
+different than your settings, use the Jinja filter ``strftime`` 
+that comes with Pelican. Usage is same as Python `strftime`_ format, 
+but the filter will do the right thing and format your date according
+to the locale given in your settings::
+
+    {{ article.date|strftime('%d %B %Y') }}
+
+.. _datetime: http://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#datetime-objects
+.. _strftime: http://docs.python.org/2/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior
+
 index.html
 ----------
 
diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index 7ce1e28b..f2fa0e33 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from pelican.contents import (
         Article, Page, Category, Static, is_valid_content
 )
 from pelican.readers import read_file
-from pelican.utils import copy, process_translations, mkdir_p
+from pelican.utils import copy, process_translations, mkdir_p, DateFormatter
 from pelican import signals
 import pelican.utils
 
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ class Generator(object):
 
         logger.debug('template list: {0}'.format(self.env.list_templates()))
 
+        # provide utils.strftime as a jinja filter
+        self.env.filters.update({'strftime': DateFormatter()})
+
         # get custom Jinja filters from user settings
         custom_filters = self.settings.get('JINJA_FILTERS', {})
         self.env.filters.update(custom_filters)
diff --git a/pelican/utils.py b/pelican/utils.py
index 39a3f8f4..9e8a779d 100644
--- a/pelican/utils.py
+++ b/pelican/utils.py
@@ -65,6 +65,26 @@ def strftime(date, date_format):
     return template % tuple(formatted_candidates)
 
 
+class DateFormatter(object):
+    '''A date formatter object used as a jinja filter
+    
+    Uses the `strftime` implementation and makes sure jinja uses the locale 
+    defined in LOCALE setting
+    '''
+    
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.locale = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME)
+
+    def __call__(self, date, date_format):
+        old_locale = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME)
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, self.locale)
+
+        formatted = strftime(date, date_format)
+
+        locale.setlocale(locale.LC_TIME, old_locale)
+        return formatted
+
+
 def python_2_unicode_compatible(klass):
     """
     A decorator that defines __unicode__ and __str__ methods under Python 2.