Captain America's Shield

"What do you think?" "Yes. I think it works."

- Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter

Captain America's Shield is a primary defensive and offensive piece of equipment for battle owned by Steve Rogers.

His first shield was made of steel while the second was made out of vibranium.

The first shield
"I hear you're uh...kinda attached?" "It's handier than you might think."

- Howard Stark and Steve Rogers

After the death of Dr. Abraham Erskine, Steve Rogers chose to tour around the USA in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote War Bonds rather than be confined to a lab while scientists attempted to rediscover Erskine's formula. During the tours, he wore a heater-shaped shield with him. The shield was painted to resemble the American flag.

In Italy 1943, while touring to active servicemen, Rogers learned that Bucky Barnes' unit was lost in battle against HYDRA. Refusing to believe Barnes is dead, Rogers mounted a solo-rescue attempt with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark flying him to Austria, many miles behind enemy lines. He took the shield with him.

Rogers infiltrated the fortress belonging to HYDRA division, freeing Barnes and the other captured Allied soldiers. Rogers confronted HYDRA's commander Johann Schmidt, who attacked him and punched a dent in the shield.

Schmidt then revealed his face to be a mask, removing it to display the red-colored, skull-like face that earned him the nickname "The Red Skull". Schmidt escaped and Rogers returned to base with the freed soldiers.

World War II
"No! No! That's just a prototype." "What's it made of?" "Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight. It's completely vibration absorbent." "How come it's not a standard issue?" "That's the rarest metal on Earth. What you're holding there, that's all we've got."

- Howard Stark and Steve Rogers

The second shield used by Captain America was made from the only available vibranium that the U.S. Military had. Howard Stark gave the shield to Captain America to protect himself from gunfire.

Captain America used the shield in all of the attacks on enemy factories and other missions. He had the shield with him when he crashed the Valkyrie into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. About seventy year later, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had stumbled across the crashsite of the Valkyrie. Captain America was found alive, and he and the shield were taken to New York City.

21st century
When Captain America was called upon to join the Avengers, he again relied on the shield for as his primary weapon. He saved an old civilian in Germany by blocking a shot fired by Loki. The shield also saved the Captain's life when he it protected him from an attack from a confused Thor, while everything else around them got destroyed. They were later able to take Loki into custody.

Captain America relied on his shield once again during the Chitauri attack on Manhattan. The shield was being repeatedly flung at Chitauri warriors as it either disarmed them or knocked them out.

Trivia

 * The second shield was originally supposed to be made out of a mix between vibranium (for absorbing vibrations) and adamantium (for its near indestructibility), as in the comics. However, since 20th Century Fox holds the rights to the X-Men, this was changed to be completely made out of vibranium.
 * In Iron Man and Iron Man 2 a replica/prototype of the second shield can be seen.
 * Cap-tattoo.jpg Iron Man 3, the [[Mandarin]] has a tattoo of the shield on his neck. It has been noted that in place of the star is an "A", the symbol for anarchy. Kevin Feige has said that the Mandarin uses "symbolism of various cultures and iconography that he perverts for his own end." A popular theory is that he is attempting to twist the ideals the shield represents. This fits in with the speech that he gives in the trailer.