Editing Signature (section)

===Identification===
[[Image:Autograph of Benjamin Franklin.svg|thumb|Signature of [[Benjamin Franklin]] (1706–1790)]]
[[Image:Farah_Pahlavi_signature.svg|thumb|Signature of [[Shahbanu|Empress]] [[Farah Pahlavi]] of [[Iran]] (1938–), in [[Persian language|Persian]] handwriting]]
[[Image:Печат светог Саве.svg|thumb|Signature of [[Sava I of Serbia]] (1169/1174–1236), the first [[Archbishop of Serbia]], in the [[Cyrillic alphabet]]. Here, the letters [[А]] and [[В]] are combined into a single [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]]]

The traditional function of a signature is to permanently affix to a document a person's uniquely personal, undeniable self-identification as physical evidence of that person's personal witness and certification of the content of all, or a specified part, of the 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 also to provide evidence of deliberation and informed consent.

In the United States, signatures encompass marks and actions of all sorts that are indicative of identity and intent. The legal rule is that unless a statute specifically prescribes a particular method of making a signature it may be made in any number of ways. These include by a mechanical or rubber stamp [[facsimile]]. A signature may be made by the purported signatory; alternatively someone else duly authorized by the signatory, acting in the signer's presence and at the signatory's direction, may make the signature.<ref>80 [[Corpus Juris Secundum]], Signatures, sections 2 through 7</ref>

Many individuals have much more fanciful signatures than their normal [[cursive]] writing, including elaborate [[Ascender (typography)|ascenders]], [[descender]]s and exotic [[wiktionary:flourish|flourish]]es, much as one would find in [[calligraphic]] writing. As an example, the final "k" in [[John Hancock]]'s famous signature on the US Declaration of Independence loops back to underline his name. This kind of flourish is also known as a ''[[wikt:paraph|paraph]]'', a [[French language|French]] term meaning flourish, initial or signature. The paraph is used in [[graphology]] analyses.

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.