History & public life · Autograph & handwriting
John Hancock signature
A sweeping opening stroke reaches below the name.
What does John Hancock’s signature look like?
A sweeping opening stroke reaches below the name. Tall, strongly inclined letters sit above an intricate underline, with a loop at the centre and a curled finish at the right.
- Slant
- ≥ +40°forward
- Baseline
- +0.9°near level
- Width / height
- 3.69 : 1overall proportions
- Opening height
- 0.57×opening versus body letters
The flourish is part of the silhouette
The underline takes up substantial space beneath the written name. Read the inclined letters first, then trace the lower return separately. This makes it easier to distinguish the signature’s word shapes from the decoration framing them.
John Hancock signature analysis
John Hancock’s signature sample has a forward slant at the edge of the measured range, a near-level baseline and 6 enclosed loops. Use the layers to follow the writing line, letter band, slant and enclosed loops.
- Slantforward
- ≥ +40°
- Baselinenear level
- +0.9°
- Width / heightoverall proportions
- 3.69 : 1
- Opening heightopening versus body letters
- 0.57×
- Enclosed loopsclosed spaces in the image
- 6
- Ink groupsmain disconnected groups
- 6
- Ink densityinside the signature bounds
- 12.8%
- Underlinelower flourish
- 47% of width
- Finish heightrelative to the letter body
- +0.17×
Opening, letter body and finish
The opening is lower than the typical letter body. The opening-to-body ratio is 0.57×, while the whole image is 3.69 times as wide as it is tall. The rightmost ink finishes above the writing line; look at this ending separately from the slant of the letters themselves.
Loops and the lower flourish
The sample contains 6 enclosed loops and 6 main ink groups. The lower flourish spans about 47% of the full ink width, giving the name another line to follow beneath its letters.
John Hancock’s signature in graphology
Traditional graphology associates forward slant with responsiveness and outward expression. An underline is traditionally read as a wish to give the name presence. The extended pen path adds the flourish that graphologists associate with expressiveness.
Follow the forward-leaning strokes in this image alongside the lower flourish. For another perspective on your own writing, the handwriting analysis tool brings slant, size and spacing into a full-page reading.
Signatures with similar shapes
Compare these samples’ slant, proportions and letter rhythm with John Hancock’s autograph.
