The civic coat of arms of Uggiano la Chiesa has a blue background and it represents a Host radiating flashes of light and in the upper part there is a Latin inscription. As for many other villages of the Salento there are no documents about the origins of Uggiano  la Chiesa, but the presence of a menhir called "San Giovanni" (four metres tall) proves that man already has lived here since the prehistory. Probably  the first village was founded by the people who had escaped from the destruction of the Casale of Vaste, that  between the IX and the X centuries was attacked by the terrible Saracens. The poor people, very probably, were attracted by the good climate and  the fertility of the ground. According to another thesis the people of Otranto built a fortress to defend the coast form the enemies attacks and the first village was founded around this castle and it was first called Viggiano, coming from Latin "vigilarium," and that means lookout post. There are no certain news about Uggiano le Chiesa during the first time of the feudal age, in fact, the first historical documents are dated  1219, when Frederic of Aragon gave this centre  to the Archbishop of Otranto, that ruled it until at 1806,  year in which the feudal system was abolished. It was called "la Chiesa" since it belonged to the Church of Otranto.  Among the most important local people there are Nachira Macario, who was a Basilian monk of big culture and he died at Otranto in 1480, during the Turks' fierce assault. Valentino De Paola and Domenico Arcuti were  esteemed theologians. Celestino Cominale lived  in the XVIII century and he was an illustrious professor at the University of Naples. He was deeply interested in medicine, astronomy, philosophy, architecture and  mathematics. He wrote interesting works. Riccardo Rubrichi was an esteemed scholar and he wrote important works too.