Coat of arms?

Question:My maternal grandfather's last name is Hare. I have the coat of arms for his side of the family but I don't actually have any information on it. All he told me was that a long way back, his ancestors were from England and they had a castle in Herefordshire (apparently) called Hare Castle and they were Barons. They were stripped of their title for gambling away their fortune or something like that. I somehow can't find any information on Hare Castle or anything. I have a picture of the coat of arms though. There is a hare standing on the top of it, and the main colours are red and gold. The shield which the hare stands on is gold, with three horizontal red stripes. The hare is lifting something up, it is red and looks like the symbol for clubs in cards.

Can anyone give me any information on this coat of arms, or tell me where to find information? Thank you ^^

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My maternal grandfather's last name is Hare. I have the coat of arms for his side of the family but I don't actually have any information on it. All he told me was that a long way back, his ancestors were from England and they had a castle in Herefordshire (apparently) called Hare Castle and they were Barons. They were stripped of their title for gambling away their fortune or something like that. I somehow can't find any information on Hare Castle or anything. I have a picture of the coat of arms though. There is a hare standing on the top of it, and the main colours are red and gold. The shield which the hare stands on is gold, with three horizontal red stripes. The hare is lifting something up, it is red and looks like the symbol for clubs in cards.

Can anyone give me any information on this coat of arms, or tell me where to find information? Thank you ^^

Sophie the above 2 posters are correct. Coats of arms do not belong to surnames.
Also, you have to take into consideration that there might have been more than one man named Hare that was granted a coat of arms and then some were not granted one. The descendants of snake oil salesmen that sell them will not have them all . They don't have to in order to sell to gullible Americans. There are no laws in the U. S. regarding heraldry. You might have seen some of those dinky little walnut plaques on some people's den walls. They might think it belongs to them, but it is just one that was granted to someone with their surname and probably wasn't even related.

I am not going to say that your story isn't fact. However, you don't know that the particular coat of arms you are talking about had anything at all to do with your family. The only way you can know is to trace your family back, starting with yourself.

Anytime you wish to do this, there are lots of good people on this board that can give you some great tips and advice. Just ask.

Also in addition to the link Wendy funished, see the link from The National Genealogical Society and one regarding Irish arms. You will notice after 1603, the Irish had disdain for coats of arms.

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerp...

http://www.heraldry.ws/info/article10.ht...

Unless you got that "coat of arms" from your grandaddy and he told you it's really old, you better do a little research on the "coat of arms" scam.

Many family traditions are unfindable for the simple reason that they were not fact to begin with.
As for a coat of arms, they are only awarded to a person, not a family.
http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.ht...
this is from the official agency that has authority. Trust me.. you CAN buy them online, but it does not make them valid.
You can't imagine the numerous families who accept tradition without questioning it at all. Trace your ancestry using reliable documents, and you will be more likely to find the actual facts. Trying to confirm a (probably) false story is spinning your wheels.

Have a look at the links below you might find a couple of them really interesting they are genealogy sites specifically for Herefordshire,
http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/datab...
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/hereford/even...
http://www.mick-gray.co.uk/family_histor...
http://www.genuki.org.uk/Societies/Engla...
the first one is probably the most useful as it is the Herefordshire family history society, I have emailed you some additional information as well.
Hope this helps.