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.

Uses
It was typically used as a defensive weapon, especially during Captain America's fight in World War II. Made out of vibranium, it is able to absorb kinetic energy, enabling him to withstand blows that would injure him if replaced with a non-vibranium shield. It was also used by him to defend himself, and protect himself from the Chitauri guns and army. The shield was also used as an offensive weapon, such as when Captain America was 'frisbeeing' the shield towards the Winter Soldier. It is also shown that it can be used to cushion falls from great heights.

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 United States Armed Forces had available. 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 asked to join the Avengers, he again relied on the shield 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 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 and either disarmed them or knocked them out.

During the S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War, Rogers used the shield more on an offensive level than he had previously. The shield itself was capable of being caught by Bucky Barnes with his robotic left arm, not applying any physical damage to either the arm or the shield itself. The Shield later fell out in the sky at the battle between Captain America and the Winter Soldier.

The shield will later be recovered since it's being used in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The shield will later be shattered by Ultron.

Trivia

 * A replica/prototype of the shield can be seen in Tony Stark's workshop in Iron Man and Iron Man 2, first behind Tony when he is first seen removing his armor, and then when he is building a particle accelerator.
 * In 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.

Behind the Scenes

 * The second shield was originally supposed to be made out of a mix between Vibranium (for absorbing vibrations) and Adamantium (for its near indestructibility). However, since 20th Century Fox holds the rights to Adamantium as part of the X-Men franchise, this was changed to be completely made out of Vibranium.