Vella is a village and a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

[1] While there is some evidence of a late Bronze Age settlement and coins from the 3rd and 4th Centuries have been found, Vella is first mentioned about 840 as ad sanctum Vincentium [...] in valle Leguntia.

Over the following centuries, most of the other villages in the valley also separated from the Vella parish (the most recent being Peiden in 1910).

[2] The description of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a Pelican in Piety Argent.

[3] The pelican, which according to legend feeds its young with its own blood, is a symbol for the death of Jesus.

Of the rest of the land, 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (7.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

The municipality consists of the village Villa and the church St. Vincent in Pleif built on a ridge overlooking the Glenner/Glogn gorge, a tributary to the Vorderrhein.

[8] The age distribution, as of 2000[update], in Vella is; 63 children or 14.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 54 teenagers or 12.2% are between 10 and 19.

The wettest month is August during which time Vella receives an average of 115 mm (4.5 in) of rain or snow.

The driest month of the year is February with an average of 55 mm (2.2 in) of precipitation over 11.5 days.