Purpose: In the field of place branding, and in particular for regional branding, academics and practitioners regard marketing as a necessity. Indeed, it contributes to control the place's image, as well as attracting investors, firms, tourists, future inhabitants, etc. However, a question remains as to stakeholders' opinions about the implementation of a brand for their region. Indeed, to acquire a competitive advantage a regional brand should reflect a common vision shared by the stakeholders. Is the practice of "branding a region" legitimate as a whole or does it depend on its dimensions? Legitimacy when promoting a regional brand can be considered through three aspects: the historical, the purpose and the means legitimacy. Thereby, this study aims at analyzing the legitimacy of regional branding's several dimensions by focusing on one stakeholder's perception: the inhabitants of the region. Methodology: A French region, namely the Auvergne region, was selected for the study. In a first step, two focus groups were carried out. In a second step, face-to-face questionnaires were administered to a sample. Then, data were processed through AFC and ANOVA. Findings: Results confirm the transposition of the three dimension legitimacy scale in the context of regional branding. Moreover, if the regional branding practice is legitimate as a whole; legitimacy levels are higher for the use of the Auvergne regional brand in a tourism context, as well as for promoting local products compared to promoting firms' choice of location. Research Limitations: This study focused on one region and its inhabitants. Future research should broaden the results to other regions. Practical Implications: This study provides a methodology to evaluate the legitimacy of regional brands. With this grid, practitioners may select the promotion actions which would federate the inhabitants of the promoted region. Originality: This study extends prior work by introducing the legitimacy scale into the regional branding literature.