Halden, a town and municipality in Østfold county, is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden. Evidence of early human settlements in this region have been found, particularly in the Svinesund area where rock carvings from the Nordic Bronze Age can be found. Named after a small farm, Hallen (in english a slope) and first mentioned in 1629, it became the city Fredrikshald in 1665 for Frederick III of Denmark. The Gud med oss (God be with us) coat-of-arms created in 1665 shows a knight standing on a mountain, yellow on a blue background and was inspired the bravery of the citizens of the city in the Dano-Swedish War (1658-1660).

Attribution: wikipedia (last visited May 10, 2011).