[Django]-Formating Django Datetime objects outside template

The template tag is built on the Django formats utility libraries. See django.utils.formats.date_format for a named date format or django.utils.formats.dateformat.format for arbitrary ones. For example:

from datetime import datetime

# Date format string
from django.utils.formats import dateformat
formatted_date = dateformat.format(datetime.now(), "r")

# Named format
from django.utils.formats import date_format
formatted_date = date_format(datetime.now(), "SHORT_DATE_FORMAT")