The Washington Monument usually refers to the large white-colored obelisk in the center of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. It is a United States Presidential Memorial built for George Washington, the first President of the United States and the leader of the revolutionary Continental Army, which won independence from the British following the American Revolutionary War.

Other monuments to honor Washington, also known as the "Washington Monument", are in Baltimore, Maryland and Annapolis, Maryland.

The monument is made of marble, granite, and sandstone. It was designed by Robert Mills, a prominent American architect of the 1840s. The actual construction of the monument began in 1848 and was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death, due to lack of funds and the intervention of the American Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble (visible approximately 150 feet up) clearly delineates the initial construction from its resumption in 1876. It is generally considered fortunate that the Greek Doric rotunda Mills planned for the base of the monument was never built.

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