John Hancock’s large signature appears first on the engrossed Declaration of Independence for America250.
Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress when the Declaration was adopted. His prominent signature became the first and most visually famous name on the parchment copy. In the United States, “put your John Hancock” later became an informal expression meaning to sign one’s name.
The engrossed parchment should be distinguished from the original printed broadsides. Hancock’s large signature is associated with the official handwritten copy, which Congress ordered to be prepared on parchment after approving the Declaration’s text.
Hancock was a delegate from Massachusetts and a leading figure in the revolutionary movement. His signature’s size has inspired stories about showing it clearly to the king, but the secure historical point is that it is large, prominent, and first on the engrossed document. The parchment is now preserved at the National Archives.