Common seal
The formal seal of a company, historically pressed into paper to execute a deed.
The common seal is the older, more formal instrument. Executing a document "under seal" once meant physically embossing it, and carried more legal weight than a signature.
Most jurisdictions have since made it optional and allowed documents to be executed by signature instead. Where it survives, its use is usually governed by the company’s own articles, which say who may apply it and whether it needs to be witnessed.
Related terms
- Company seal: A mark carrying a company’s registered name, used to show that a document was issued by that company.
- Embossed seal: A seal pressed into paper to raise the design, leaving no ink.