diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index fdea8c3521775..eee519dc429d9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ Changelog
 .. note:: This version is not yet released and is under active development.
 
 * Added :class:`~cryptography.hazmat.primitives.kdf.x963kdf.X963KDF`.
+* The :class:`~cryptography.x509.Certificate` class now has a
+  :attr:`~cryptography.x509.Certificate.signature` attribute.
 
 1.0.2 - 2015-09-27
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/docs/x509/reference.rst b/docs/x509/reference.rst
index 62bdb3a97cc19..0e3eebd0ca62d 100644
--- a/docs/x509/reference.rst
+++ b/docs/x509/reference.rst
@@ -322,6 +322,14 @@ X.509 Certificate Object
             <Extension(oid=<ObjectIdentifier(oid=2.5.29.32, name=certificatePolicies)>, critical=False, value=<CertificatePolicies([<PolicyInformation(policy_identifier=<ObjectIdentifier(oid=2.16.840.1.101.3.2.1.48.1, name=Unknown OID)>, policy_qualifiers=None)>])>)>
             <Extension(oid=<ObjectIdentifier(oid=2.5.29.19, name=basicConstraints)>, critical=True, value=<BasicConstraints(ca=True, path_length=None)>)>
 
+    .. attribute:: signature
+
+        .. versionadded:: 1.1
+
+        :type: bytes
+
+        The bytes of the certificate's signature.
+
     .. method:: public_bytes(encoding)
 
         .. versionadded:: 1.0
diff --git a/src/_cffi_src/openssl/asn1.py b/src/_cffi_src/openssl/asn1.py
index bbbffd8f633d2..e54fbe9343d3e 100644
--- a/src/_cffi_src/openssl/asn1.py
+++ b/src/_cffi_src/openssl/asn1.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 
 typedef struct asn1_string_st ASN1_OCTET_STRING;
 typedef struct asn1_string_st ASN1_IA5STRING;
-typedef ... ASN1_BIT_STRING;
+typedef struct asn1_string_st ASN1_BIT_STRING;
 typedef ... ASN1_OBJECT;
 typedef struct asn1_string_st ASN1_STRING;
 typedef struct asn1_string_st ASN1_UTF8STRING;
diff --git a/src/_cffi_src/openssl/x509.py b/src/_cffi_src/openssl/x509.py
index 468d74eaae5f2..63c4e952f1ed5 100644
--- a/src/_cffi_src/openssl/x509.py
+++ b/src/_cffi_src/openssl/x509.py
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
 typedef struct {
     X509_ALGOR *sig_alg;
     X509_CINF *cert_info;
+    ASN1_BIT_STRING *signature;
     ...;
 } X509;
 
diff --git a/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/x509.py b/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/x509.py
index 80f32e292eb19..1c2cf7cd3cddc 100644
--- a/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/x509.py
+++ b/src/cryptography/hazmat/backends/openssl/x509.py
@@ -301,6 +301,10 @@ def signature_hash_algorithm(self):
     def extensions(self):
         return _CERTIFICATE_EXTENSION_PARSER.parse(self._backend, self._x509)
 
+    @property
+    def signature(self):
+        return self._backend._asn1_string_to_bytes(self._x509.signature)
+
     def public_bytes(self, encoding):
         bio = self._backend._create_mem_bio()
         if encoding is serialization.Encoding.PEM:
diff --git a/src/cryptography/x509/base.py b/src/cryptography/x509/base.py
index 27eafac6a1aa2..91efc1d39c763 100644
--- a/src/cryptography/x509/base.py
+++ b/src/cryptography/x509/base.py
@@ -109,6 +109,12 @@ def extensions(self):
         Returns an Extensions object.
         """
 
+    @abc.abstractproperty
+    def signature(self):
+        """
+        Returns the signature bytes.
+        """
+
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def __eq__(self, other):
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_x509.py b/tests/test_x509.py
index 220e71a51857a..0e5b9667fc285 100644
--- a/tests/test_x509.py
+++ b/tests/test_x509.py
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
 )
 from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import hashes, serialization
 from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import dsa, ec, rsa
+from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric.utils import (
+    decode_dss_signature
+)
 from cryptography.x509.oid import (
     AuthorityInformationAccessOID, ExtendedKeyUsageOID, ExtensionOID, NameOID
 )
@@ -79,6 +82,25 @@ def test_load_der_cert(self, backend):
         assert fingerprint == b"6f49779533d565e8b7c1062503eab41492c38e4d"
         assert isinstance(cert.signature_hash_algorithm, hashes.SHA256)
 
+    def test_signature(self, backend):
+        cert = _load_cert(
+            os.path.join("x509", "custom", "post2000utctime.pem"),
+            x509.load_pem_x509_certificate,
+            backend
+        )
+        assert cert.signature == binascii.unhexlify(
+            b"8e0f72fcbebe4755abcaf76c8ce0bae17cde4db16291638e1b1ce04a93cdb4c"
+            b"44a3486070986c5a880c14fdf8497e7d289b2630ccb21d24a3d1aa1b2d87482"
+            b"07f3a1e16ccdf8daa8a7ea1a33d49774f513edf09270bd8e665b6300a10f003"
+            b"66a59076905eb63cf10a81a0ca78a6ef3127f6cb2f6fb7f947fce22a30d8004"
+            b"8c243ba2c1a54c425fe12310e8a737638f4920354d4cce25cbd9dea25e6a2fe"
+            b"0d8579a5c8d929b9275be221975479f3f75075bcacf09526523b5fd67f7683f"
+            b"3cda420fabb1e9e6fc26bc0649cf61bb051d6932fac37066bb16f55903dfe78"
+            b"53dc5e505e2a10fbba4f9e93a0d3b53b7fa34b05d7ba6eef869bfc34b8e514f"
+            b"d5419f75"
+        )
+        assert len(cert.signature) == cert.public_key().key_size // 8
+
     def test_issuer(self, backend):
         cert = _load_cert(
             os.path.join(
@@ -2278,6 +2300,20 @@ def test_load_dsa_cert(self, backend):
             "822ff5d234e073b901cf5941f58e1f538e71d40d", 16
         )
 
+    def test_signature(self, backend):
+        cert = _load_cert(
+            os.path.join("x509", "custom", "dsa_selfsigned_ca.pem"),
+            x509.load_pem_x509_certificate,
+            backend
+        )
+        assert cert.signature == binascii.unhexlify(
+            b"302c021425c4a84a936ab311ee017d3cbd9a3c650bb3ae4a02145d30c64b4326"
+            b"86bdf925716b4ed059184396bcce"
+        )
+        r, s = decode_dss_signature(cert.signature)
+        assert r == 215618264820276283222494627481362273536404860490
+        assert s == 532023851299196869156027211159466197586787351758
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         ("path", "loader_func"),
         [
@@ -2331,6 +2367,30 @@ def test_load_ecdsa_cert(self, backend):
         )
         assert isinstance(num.curve, ec.SECP384R1)
 
+    def test_signature(self, backend):
+        cert = _load_cert(
+            os.path.join("x509", "ecdsa_root.pem"),
+            x509.load_pem_x509_certificate,
+            backend
+        )
+        assert cert.signature == binascii.unhexlify(
+            b"3065023100adbcf26c3f124ad12d39c30a099773f488368c8827bbe6888d5085"
+            b"a763f99e32de66930ff1ccb1098fdd6cabfa6b7fa0023039665bc2648db89e50"
+            b"dca8d549a2edc7dcd1497f1701b8c8868f4e8c882ba89aa98ac5d100bdf854e2"
+            b"9ae55b7cb32717"
+        )
+        r, s = decode_dss_signature(cert.signature)
+        assert r == int(
+            "adbcf26c3f124ad12d39c30a099773f488368c8827bbe6888d5085a763f99e32"
+            "de66930ff1ccb1098fdd6cabfa6b7fa0",
+            16
+        )
+        assert s == int(
+            "39665bc2648db89e50dca8d549a2edc7dcd1497f1701b8c8868f4e8c882ba89a"
+            "a98ac5d100bdf854e29ae55b7cb32717",
+            16
+        )
+
     def test_load_ecdsa_no_named_curve(self, backend):
         _skip_curve_unsupported(backend, ec.SECP256R1())
         cert = _load_cert(