According to tradition, the toponym of Ponderano comes from the Latin expression pondere aurum, in reference to a ponderarium, a place for weighing gold-bearing metals, with official certifications.

According to a different hypothesis, it comes instead from a Pons Aerianus, in turn derived from the personal name Aerius or Herius The oldest mention of Ponderano dates back to the year 882, March 16, the date of a document with which the emperor Charles the Fat gave the church of Saint Eusebius, in the person of Littuardo, bishop of Vercelli, the "grand court" of Biella, to which Ponderano belonged with all its appurtenances areas.

After various events, in 1243, the papal legate Gregorio of Montelungo sold it to the municipality of Vercelli, from which it passed into the hands of the Avogadro family of Cerrione to remain there until 1404 when they submitted to the counts of Savoy.

Throughout the 19th century, excluding a very short period during which it was subjected to Austrian rule ( 1859 ), Ponderano remained in the hands of the Savoy family who, after the unification of Italy, included it in the province of Novara.

The municipality of Ponderano makes use of a coat of arms ab antiquo described as follows: «of blue, to the golden castle, crenellated in the ghibelline style, with windows of the same, black brick, and turreted to the left of a golden tower, with the arm dressed in silver, moving from the right side of the castle and holding scale in the hand...» It was delivered on 23 August 1689 pursuant to the ducal edict of 23 May 1687.