It is the primary defensive and offensive piece of equipment used by Captain America, and is intended to be an emblem of American culture.

In his debut, Captain America (secretly U.S. Army Private Steve Rogers) is equipped with a heater-style shield made from steel.

The shield destroyed by Hyde and restored by Zemo was eventually passed on to Elijah Bradley, the teenage hero known as the Patriot and leader of the Young Avengers.

Aided by Wakandan military forces, they repel a series of Nazi attacks led by the Red Skull and Baron Strucker.

A near-indestructible concavo-convex metal disc approximately 2.5 feet (0.76 m) in diameter, weighing 12 pounds (5.4 kg), it has remained Captain America's most constant shield over the decades.

MacLain would later attempt to recreate the shield's metal to no avail, his experiments instead eventually yielding the super-metal adamantium.

During his first outing as Captain America, Barton encounters the Young Avengers and scolds Kate Bishop for using the Hawkeye name.

Inevitably, in an effort to honor Rogers' last wishes, Stark offers to let the Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) keep the shield, and serve as the new Captain America.

[14] This premise was not observed in subsequent storylines, or considered canon, as artists have not continued depicting the shield with the scar.

[15] In the 2003-2004 Marvel Comics/DC Comics inter-company crossover limited series JLA/Avengers, Superman is given the shield by Captain America to wield in battle in the final confrontation with Krona, and is impressed with its might.

[26] In production for Captain America: The First Avenger, the shield, which is depicted as both a defensive tool and a weapon, came in four types: metal, fiberglass, rubber, and computer graphics (CG).

[32] Prop master Barry Gibbs specified that "We had the 'hero shield,' which was made of aluminum, for our beauty shots [and] close-up work.

[32] The premise of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier revolves around a moment in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019) which depicts Steve Rogers bequeathing the shield and the mantle of Captain America to his friend Sam Wilson.

[34][35] Marvel Studios chief executive Kevin Feige said this was intended to be a "classic passing of the torch from one hero to another", but when Marvel Studios got the opportunity to make television series for Disney+ they decided to expand this into an entire story about Wilson, who is a Black man, becoming Captain America, with the shield serving as a symbol for the superhero title.

Mackie said the series would explore Wilson's backstory and treat him as a "regular guy" in a world of superheroes,[36] while "walk[ing] the line of who is going to take up the [Captain America] shield" after Endgame.

A model of the shield was sent as a gift by Chris Evans, who plays the role of Steve Rogers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to a 6-year-old boy who had sustained injuries when defending his sister from a dog attack.

[44][45][46] Before the premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, an image of the shield was projected onto landmarks such as the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer.