Former Coat of arms of the Diocese of Tagbilaran (as illustrated in Philippine Studies)
The Diocese of Tagbilaran was created on November 8, 1941 and made a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cebu by the apostolic constitution In sublimi Petri cathedra. But due to the complications caused by World War II, its first bishop, Julio Rosales, a priest of the Diocese of Palo took possession of the diocese after his episcopal consecration five years after Tagbilaran's erection.
On January 9, 1986, the diocese lost half of its territory after Pope John Paul II created the Diocese of Talibon, with its seat in Talibon, a major town on the northern coast of the island. The Diocese of Talibon absorbed half of the civil province of Bohol.