Flat bones are those bones which are found where the principal requirement is either extensive protection or the provision of broad surfaces for muscular attachment. These bones are expanded into broad, flat plates, as in the cranium (skull), the ilium (pelvis), sternum, rib cage, the sacrum and the scapula. The flat bones are: the occipital, parietal, frontal, nasal, lacrimal, vomer, scapula, os coxæ (hip bone), sternum, and ribs. In the cranial bones, the layers of compact tissue are familiarly known as the tables of the skull; the outer one is thick and tough; the inner is thin, dense, and brittle, and hence is termed the vitreous table.

These bones are composed of two thin layers of compact bone enclosing between them a variable quantity of cancellous bone, which is the location of red bone marrow. In an adult, most red blood cells are formed in flat bones. The intervening cancellous tissue is called the diploë, and this, in certain regions of the skull, becomes absorbed so as to leave spaces filled with air (air-sinuses) between the two tables.

Flat, or flatness, describes an object or condition that is very smooth or level.

Flat or flats may also refer to:

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue. Bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure, are lightweight yet strong and hard, and serve multiple functions. One of the types of tissue that makes up bone is the mineralized osseous tissue, also called bone tissue, that gives it rigidity and a coral-like three-dimensional internal structure. Other types of tissue found in bones include marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. At birth, there are over 270 bones in an infant human's body, but many of these fuse together as the child grows, leaving a total of 206 separate bones in an adult. The largest bone in the human body is the femur and the smallest bones are auditory ossicles.

Bones have eleven main functions:

The primary tissue of bone, osseous tissue, is a relatively hard and lightweight composite material, formed mostly of calcium phosphate in the chemical arrangement termed calcium hydroxylapatite (this is the osseous tissue that gives bones their rigidity). It has relatively high compressive strength, of about 170 MPa (1800 kgf/cm²) but poor tensile strength of 104–121 MPa and very low shear stress strength (51.6 MPa), meaning it resists pushing forces well, but not pulling or torsional forces. While bone is essentially brittle, it does have a significant degree of elasticity, contributed chiefly by collagen. All bones consist of living and dead cells embedded in the mineralized organic matrix that makes up the osseous tissue.

Flatiron or flat iron can mean several things:

Ponty Bone is a Texan accordionist who has led his 1980s band, the Squeezetones to international popularity over a twenty year period.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Bone began studying accordion when he was only 5 years old. Later, he learned to play trumpet also. Ponty attended Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Early in his career Bone became a member of the Joe Ely Band.

By the mid 1980s Ponty Bone had formed his own band, Ponty Bone & the Squeezetones. The group's early style ranged through Russian gypsy dances, reggae-blues, Tex-Mex polkas, and Cajun boogie. In 1987, early in their career, the group made their singular appearance on the PBS music television program Austin City Limits, as part of a "Squeezebox Special" episode. Longtime Squeezetones bassist Wash Hamilton died in early 2008.

With his band, Ponty has shared the stage with such artists as The Clash, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, King Flaco Jiménez, Linda Ronstadt and Ronnie Lane.

Bone's album, "Fantasize" (on the Loud House label) has been described as drawing from Tex-Mex, rock, blues, R & B, zydeco, and even Caribbean music to create a whole new style.