Where is the engrossed parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence permanently displayed?

The engrossed parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence is permanently displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

This is the formal handwritten document usually meant when people refer to the signed Declaration. Congress ordered the text engrossed, or carefully copied onto parchment, after adopting the declaration in July 1776. Most delegates signed it on August 2, while several others signed later.

The document is displayed in the National Archives Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, alongside the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Its parchment format distinguishes it from the earlier printed Dunlap broadsides that carried the text around the colonies.

During World War II, the Declaration and other founding documents were moved temporarily to Fort Knox for protection. They returned to Washington in 1944. The National Archives display makes the parchment a major landmark for visitors during America’s 250th-anniversary observances.