For the use of signatures in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Signatures

John Hancock's signature is the most prominent on the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. John Hancock ( October 8 1793 was a Massachusetts merchant and prominent patriot of the American Revolution. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, also the Articles of Confederation was the governing Constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and

A signature (from Latin signare, "sign") is a handwritten (and sometimes stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. A sign is an entity which signifies another entity A natural sign is an entity which bears a causal relation to the signified entity as thunder is a sign of storm The Law of evidence governs the use of Testimony (eg oral or written statements such as an Affidavit) and exhibits (e Identity is an Umbrella term used throughout the Social sciences to describe an individual's comprehension of him or herself as a discrete separate entity The writer of a signature is a signatory. Like a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying its creator.

Function and types of signatures

The traditional function of a signature is evidential: it is to give evidence of:

1. the provenance of the document (identity)
2. the intention (will) of an individual with regard to that document

For example, the role of a signature in many consumer contracts is not solely to provide evidence of the identity of the contracting party, but rather to additionally provide evidence of deliberation and informed consent. Intention (criminal|Intentions An agent 's intention in performing an action is his or her specific Purpose in doing so the end This is why the signature often appears at the bottom or end of a document.

In many countries, signatures may be witnessed and recorded in the presence of a Notary Public to carry additional legal force. A notary public is an officer who can administer Oaths and Statutory Declarations Witness and authenticate documents On legal documents, an illiterate signatory can make a "mark" (often an "X" but occasionally a personalized symbol), so long as the document is countersigned by a literate witness. traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, There are many other terms which are synonymous with 'signature'. In the United States, one is John Hancock, named after the first of the signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the John Hancock ( October 8 1793 was a Massachusetts merchant and prominent patriot of the American Revolution. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then ^[1][2]

The signature of a famous person is sometimes known as an autograph, and is then typically written on its own or with a brief note to the recipient. An autograph is a Document written entirely in the handwriting of its Author, as opposed to a typeset document or Rather than providing authentication for a document, the autograph is given as a souvenir which acknowledges the recipient's access to the autographer. Authentication (from Greek αυθεντικός real or genuine from authentes author is the act of establishing or confirming something (or someone as

In the United States, some states’ legal definition of a signature defines a signature to mean "any memorandum, mark, or sign made with intent to authenticate any instrument or writing, or the subscription of any person thereto. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Intent in Law is the planning and desire to perform an act, to fail to do so (i Authentication (from Greek αυθεντικός real or genuine from authentes author is the act of establishing or confirming something (or someone as Legal instrument is a legal Term of art that is used for any written legal document such as a Certificate, a Deed, a will " ^[3] In the context of one particular statute, a signature doesn’t have to be the popular notion of a written name, but may be other methods of authentication; the intent of any mark or memorandum makes a signature. A statute is a formal written enactment of a Legislative authority that governs a Country, State, City, or County.

Many individuals have much more fanciful signatures than their normal cursive writing, including elaborate ascenders, descenders and exotic flourishes, much as one would find in calligraphic writing. Typography, an ascender is the portion of a letter in a Latin-derived alphabet that extends above the Mean line of a font. Typography, a descender is the portion of a letter in a Latin alphabet that extends below the baseline of a font. Calligraphy (from Greek kallos "beauty" + graphẽ "writing" is the art of writing (Mediavilla 1996 17 As an example, the final "k" in John Hancock's famous signature on the US Declaration of Independence loops back to underline his name. John Hancock ( October 8 1793 was a Massachusetts merchant and prominent patriot of the American Revolution. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This article is about declarations of independence in general This kind of flourish is also known as a paraph. ^[4][5][6]

Mechanically produced signatures

Special signature machines, called autopens are capable of automatically reproducing an individual's signature. An Autopen is a machine for automatically signing a signature as an Autograph. These are typically used by people required to sign many documents, for example celebrities, heads of state or CEOs. A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator

More recently, Members of Congress in the United States have begun having their signature made into a True Type Font file. A Member of Congress is a Politician who is a member of a Congress. TrueType is an Outline font standard originally developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobe 's Type 1 fonts This allows staff members in the Congressman's office to easily reproduce it on correspondence, legislation, and official documents.

Several cultures whose languages use writing systems other than alphabets do not share the Western notion of signatures per se: the "signing" of one's name results in a written product no different from the result of "writing" one's name in the standard way. For these languages, to write or to sign involves the same written characters. Three such examples are Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities This article is mainly about the spoken Korean language See Hangul for details on the native Korean writing system In Asian culture, people typically use name-seals or inkan with the name written in tensho script (seal script) in lieu of a handwritten signature (also see Calligraphy). A seal can mean a wax seal bearing an impressed figure or an embossed figure in paper with the purpose of authenticating a document but the term can also mean any device for Calligraphy (from Greek kallos "beauty" + graphẽ "writing" is the art of writing (Mediavilla 1996 17

In e-mail and newsgroup usage, another type of signature exists which is independent of one's language. Electronic mail, often abbreviated to e-mail, email, or originally eMail, is a Store-and-forward method of writing sending receiving A newsgroup is a Repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from many users in different locations Users can set one or more lines of custom text known as a signature block to be automatically appended to their messages. A signature block (often abbreviated as signature, sig block, sig file,. This text usually includes a name, contact information, and sometimes quotations and ASCII art. History Typewriter art Since 1867 typewriters have been used for creating visual art A shortened form of a signature block, only including one's name, often with some distinguishing prefix, can be used to simply indicate the end of a post or response. Some web sites also allow graphics to be used. Note, however, that this type of signature is not related to electronic signatures or digital signatures, which are more technical in nature and not directly readable by human eyes. The term electronic signature has several meanings Among the more expansive is that given by US law influenced by ABA committee white papers and the uniform law promulgated A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a type of asymmetric cryptography used to simulate the security properties of a handwritten Signature

Other uses

A signature is that which gives an object or piece of information its identity. Examples include: the voice of Elvis on one of his records; a signature on a contract or the shape of a classical Coca-Cola bottle. Coca-Cola is a carbonated Soft drink sold in stores restaurants and Vending machines in more than 200 countries

By analogy, the word "signature" may be used to refer to the characteristic expression of a process or thing. For example, the climate phenomenon known as ENSO or El Niño has characteristic modes in different ocean basins which are often referred to as the "signature" of ENSO. El Niño-Southern Oscillation ( ENSO; commonly referred to as simply El Niño) is a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon

Copyright

Under United States Copyright Law, "titles, names [. United States copyright law governs the legally enforceable rights of creative and artistic works in the United States. . . ]; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring" are not eligible for copyright;^[7]; however, the appearance of signatures (not the names themselves) may be protected under copyright law. ^[8]

See also

• Images of signatures
• manu propria (m. Manu propria is a Latin phrase in the Ablative case meaning " (signed with one's own hand " p. )
• Autograph
• Cryptographic signature using Public key infrastructure
• Mobile Signature
• Diabolical signature, said to identify the demons in diabolical pacts
• Biometric Signature as form of the Electronic signature

References