The civic coat of arms of Galatone has  a clear green clear background and it represents  an ardent flame. Unfortunately even for this small town there are no historical documents about the origins of the first urban centre. The presence of megalithic monuments  on the territory, like the Coppola menhir, is  proof that  man was already here during the prehistoric age. For some historians it was founded in 1000 B.C. while for others  the first  village was built by the Tessali in 197 B.C. . The first historical documents are dated 1192 and they are about the feudal age. In that period, the king Tancredi of Altavilla gave the centre to the Baron Falconi,  who was succeeded by the Sanseverinos and the Caros.  In  1427 Alfonso V of  Aragon and the Queen Giovanna II competed for the feud bitterly. In 1434  Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo conquered this centre by demolishing most of  the defensive  walls  and burning a lot of olive trees. In  1480 the  Turks razed Galatone to the ground and caused death ad terror. After only four years also  the Venetians attacked Galatone. In 1486 the king Ferrante  gave the feud to Pirro Del Balzo and later it was gobìverned by  other feudal vassals as the Castriota Scanderbergs, the Scuarciaficos, the Pinellis and the Spinellis. The last vassals were the Pignatelli Belmontes, that governed until  1806. The local very well-known are very numerous: Antonio De Ferraris lived between the XV and the XVI centuries and he became a pretty appreciated  writer, famous as "Galateo". He was very eclectic and was deeply interested in different subjects such as medicine, philosophy and mathematics. He taught at the schools of Nardò, Naples and Ferrara and  his cleverness and talent were recognised as valid by everyone. He studied the habits and the traditions of his own land and founded the Lupiense Academy of Lecce. The other most important local people are: Benedetto  Mega (a poet and a philosopher), Antonio Scorrano (a poet and a priest), Rocco Scorrano (a philosopher), Pietrantonio De Magistris (a poet and writer),  Oronzo Amorosi (a scientist) and Oronzo Gabelli (a physician and poet).