A seal for use on the tapered section of a roll neck in a rolling mill, comprising a flexible and resilient circular seal body having a cylindrical outer surface delimited at at least one end by a radially outwardly extending flange. The flange has first and second sides terminating respectively at beveled first and second faces that converge at an outer sealing edge. A hinge is provided in the flange. The radial distance between the hinge and a reference plane parallel to the cylindrical outer surface and containing the outer sealing edge is about 0.4 to 0.7 times the radial distance between the reference plane and the cylindrical outer surface.