COT — Colombia Standard Time
COT is Colombia Standard Time, 5 hours behind UTC. It is a fixed offset: unlike a time zone, it does not change with the season — the zones that use it switch to a different abbreviation instead.
Current time in COT
02:46
Sunday, 2 August 2026
COT = UTC-5 · 5 hours behind UTC
Shown for 2 Aug 2026 07:46 UTC. The clock goes live as soon as scripts load.
UTC offset
UTC-5
Type
Standard time
Seasonal counterpart
None
The zones using it do not change their clocks
Meanings
1
Unambiguous
Is COT in force right now?
A zone only carries this abbreviation for part of the year. This is which of them were on it at 2 Aug 2026 07:46 UTC; the list is re-derived against your own clock when scripts load.
On COT now
- America/Bogota — Bogota
Using a different abbreviation
- Every zone listed here was on COT.
Convert COT to other time zones
City clocks reflect whatever their zone is doing; where a city observes daylight saving time, its difference from COT changes twice a year. Use the time zone converter for a specific date.
Time zones and cities that use COT
Why COT is not an identifier
COT is shorthand, not a standard. There is no registry of time zone abbreviations, no authority that assigns them, and nothing preventing two regions from adopting the same three letters — which is what makes codes like IST and CST unusable without context.
For anything a machine will read — a calendar invitation, a database column, an API response — use the IANA identifier of the zone (America/Bogota, for example) or an explicit UTC offset alongside the date. The identifier survives a change in the law; COT and its 5 hours offset do not.
Abbreviations on the same clock
Frequently asked questions
What does COT stand for?
COT stands for Colombia Standard Time. It is 5 hours behind UTC, written UTC-5.
What is COT in UTC?
COT is UTC-5. To convert an COT time to UTC, add 5 hours.
Which time zone should I use instead of COT?
Use an IANA identifier — America/Bogota for Colombia Standard Time — or state the UTC offset with the date. Abbreviations are not identifiers: they are not unique, they are not registered anywhere, and half of them change with the season. Calendar software resolves this automatically when you pick a city rather than typing letters.