diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fafaecd..005b4a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Copy the posting script to e.g. `/usr/local/bin/wordpress-post` so that you can
 * `--file PATH` — use PATH as the post content instead of opening `$EDITOR`.
 * `--publish` — shortcut for `STATUS=publish`, posts live immediately.
 * `--edit POST_ID` — update an existing post instead of creating a new one.
+* `--date DATE` — backdate the post to DATE, an ISO 8601 UTC timestamp (e.g. `2026-07-27T10:00:00Z`, matching a Gitea commit date) — sent as the post's `date_gmt`.
 
 ## Testing
 `tests/run_tests.sh` runs post.sh against a local mock of the WordPress REST
diff --git a/post.sh b/post.sh
index aafb5af..62ed494 100755
--- a/post.sh
+++ b/post.sh
@@ -22,10 +22,14 @@ CONFIG_DIR="${WORDPRESS_REST_CURL_CONFIG_DIR:-$HOME/.config/wordpress-rest-curl}
 #   --edit POST_ID   update an existing post instead of creating a new one
 #   --publish        shortcut for STATUS=publish
 #   --file PATH      use PATH as the post source instead of opening $EDITOR
+#   --date DATE      backdate the post to DATE, an ISO 8601 UTC timestamp
+#                     (e.g. 2026-07-27T10:00:00Z, matching a Gitea commit
+#                     date) — sent as the post's date_gmt
 SITE=""
 POST_ID=""
 SOURCE_FILE=""
 PUBLISH=0
+DATE=""
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     case "$1" in
         --site)
@@ -36,6 +40,8 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
             PUBLISH=1; shift ;;
         --file)
             SOURCE_FILE="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+        --date)
+            DATE="$2"; shift 2 ;;
         *)
             echo "Unknown argument: $1" >&2
             exit 1 ;;
@@ -104,6 +110,9 @@ echo "Server: $SERVER"
 echo "Status: $STATUS"
 echo "Categories: $CATEGORIES"
 echo "Tags: $TAGS"
+if [[ -n "$DATE" ]]; then
+    echo "Date: $DATE"
+fi
 if [[ -n "$POST_ID" ]]; then
     echo "Editing post: $POST_ID"
 fi
@@ -126,7 +135,9 @@ PAYLOAD=$(jq -n \
     --arg status "$STATUS" \
     --argjson categories "$CATEGORIES_JSON" \
     --argjson tags "$TAGS_JSON" \
-    '{title: $title, content: $content, status: $status, categories: $categories, tags: $tags}')
+    --arg date_gmt "${DATE%Z}" \
+    '{title: $title, content: $content, status: $status, categories: $categories, tags: $tags}
+     + (if $date_gmt != "" then {date_gmt: $date_gmt} else {} end)')
 
 BASE_URL="$SERVER"
 [[ "$BASE_URL" != http://* && "$BASE_URL" != https://* ]] && BASE_URL="https://$BASE_URL"
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.sh b/tests/run_tests.sh
index df569e7..586cb42 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_tests.sh
@@ -97,6 +97,18 @@ assert_eq "trailing slash: exit code" "0" "$?"
 REQ=$(cat "$MOCK_WP_REQUEST_FILE")
 assert_eq "trailing slash: path has no double slash" "/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/" "$(jq -r '.path' <<<"$REQ")"
 
+# --- --date backdates the post via date_gmt ---
+rm -f "$MOCK_WP_REQUEST_FILE" "$MOCK_WP_CONTROL_FILE"
+run_post_sh --file "$POST_FILE" --date "2026-07-27T10:00:00Z" >/dev/null
+assert_eq "date: exit code" "0" "$?"
+REQ=$(cat "$MOCK_WP_REQUEST_FILE")
+assert_eq "date: date_gmt sent, trailing Z stripped" "2026-07-27T10:00:00" "$(jq -r '.payload.date_gmt' <<<"$REQ")"
+
+rm -f "$MOCK_WP_REQUEST_FILE" "$MOCK_WP_CONTROL_FILE"
+run_post_sh --file "$POST_FILE" >/dev/null
+REQ=$(cat "$MOCK_WP_REQUEST_FILE")
+assert_eq "no date: date_gmt omitted" "true" "$(jq -r '.payload | has("date_gmt") | not' <<<"$REQ")"
+
 # --- edit an existing post ---
 rm -f "$MOCK_WP_REQUEST_FILE" "$MOCK_WP_CONTROL_FILE"
 run_post_sh --file "$POST_FILE" --edit 99 >/dev/null