The civic coat of arms of Ruffano has a blue background on which there are three hills and on the central a flame is represented with a crowned letter "R". Very probably the toponym derives from the Latin word "rubus" meaning bramble, a plant that grew luxuriant in the territory. The origins of Ruffano are very uncertain: maybe it was the Roman centurion Ruffo who founded the first village  after getting these lands for his courage during the wars. He built together to his soldiers the first houses and then the village became bigger and bigger. From the V to the XI centuries Ruffano was invaded by the Barbarians,  the Greek, the Longobards,  the Saracens and finally by the Normans. The king Tancredi  incorporated "Rufrano" (that was the name of the village during the Norman domination) into the County of Lecce and then it was annexed to the Principality of Taranto until  1463. Ruffano was ruled by several feudal vassals such as the Del Balzos,  the Colonnas,  the Antogliettas, the Falconis, the Filomarinos, the Brancaccios and the last ones were the Ferrantes who governed until 1806. At Ruffano there are a lot of important local people as Pasquale Leuzzi who lived  in the XIX century, and after graduating in Law he became a very good lawyer and an expert of Roman Law. Francesco Grasso, as his father, became an excellent doctor. He was a philosopher too and he died when he was still very young. Saverio Lillo became an esteemed painter of the XVII century. Andrea Villani was a scholar and wrote several works. Francesco Perez devoted himself to the monastic life and became a Jesuit. He was a virtuous and wise man and he  died in Japan where he had gone to bring Christianisation.  Saverio d' Urso became a priest and  then bishop of Ugento. Marcello Giangreco graduated in Law at Rome and he became an esteemed lawyer. Francesco Zezza lived in the XIX century, h distinguished himself in the study of scientific subjects and he was a good priest. Francesco Monaco and Antonio Ruggeri were excellent doctors.