Name and the coat of arms As far as the name of the town (Mehlsack) and its coat of arms are concerned,
the legend from German sources has it that:
"As the Swedish siege of the town protracted, the Swedes came to
believe the only way to capture the fortified town was to starve its
inhabitants.
Thus they pondered over the senselessness of the further siege with the
town inhabitants having plenty of food, or just giving up the siege.
The town inhabitants learnt about their dilemma. Hence they took the
last sack of flour (Sack Mehl) and spilled the flour all over the enemy's
camp, taking advantage of favourable wind. The enemy took this for a
sign of inhabitants' wealth and gave up the siege." The legend has
no historical foundations because the name Mehlsack was found in the
historical
sources already at the end of 12th century and, as everybody knows, the
Swedes could not be in the area at that time. The city was granted a coat of arms depicting the crossing of a golden
sword and a silver key (the symbols of patron saint of Saint Paul and
Peter's Parish Church) on the blue background. The gaps between the crossings
are occupied by three silver flour sacks (as a reference to Mehlsack-
the German name for the town)
)