[10] The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Meland farm (Old Norse: Meðalland) in the south-central part of the island of Holsnøy.

The official blazon is "Gules, an auger palewise issuant from chief argent" (Norwegian: På raud grunn ein kvit navar-spiss som vender nedover).

This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a local type of auger which is used in carpentry.

The auger has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used.

This design was chosen because in the 1850s, auger manufacturing started in the municipality, and the local drills were considered to be high quality.

It was surrounded by fjords, namely (clockwise from north) Mangerfjorden, Radfjorden, Salhusfjorden, Herdlefjorden, and Hjeltefjorden.

[17] As an island municipality, the road network of Meland depended upon bridges to connect it to the mainland.

The Nordhordland Bridge, which spans the Salhusfjorden between Flatøy and Klauvaneset in Bergen, connected Meland to the mainland.

The Krossnessundet Bridge, which is part of Fv 564, connects Flatøy to Holsnøy, the largest island of the municipality.

Meland had several traces of early settlement, including remnants of stone houses, terraced walls, and farms.

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Meland was made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four year terms.

The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Meland:[42]