A flat metal seal is described which is intended in particular for use as a cylinder head seal for an internal combustion engine and is characterised in that a bead is formed on a sealing element, which bead is deformed, by virtue of suitable shaping and a defined degree of projection beyond the diameters of the sealing element in the operating state, in such a way that when the sheet metal comes to rest ultimately in the main frictional connection, the sealing element formed by the bead is in the secondary frictional connection.
