Original shield
In his debut, Captain America (secretly [[U.S. Army]] [[Private (rank)|Private]] Steve Rogers) is equipped with a triangular, badge-shaped shield made from a bulletproof alloy. After complaints by rival comic-book publisher [[Archie Comics|MLJ]] that the design was too similar to that of its own patriotic hero the [[Shield (Archie Comics)|Shield]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Cronin|first=Brian|title=Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #58|url=http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2006/07/04/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-58/|publisher=Comic Book Resources}}</ref> Timely Comics replaced the triangular shield with a [[Disk (mathematics)| disc]]-shaped one.While the origin and fate of the original shield were not described in the original comics from the 1940s, the shield's fate was revealed decades later in 2001 through a [[retcon]]ned story. According to the tale, King T'Chaka of the [[African]] nation [[Wakanda (comics)|Wakanda]] met Captain America in early 1941 and gave him a sample of [[vibranium]], an alien metal with unique vibration absorption properties and found only in Wakanda and the [[Savage Land]].<ref name="SS1">{{cite web| last=Lundin|first=Leigh| title=The Mystery of Superheroes| url=http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2011/10/mystery-of-superheroes.html |publisher=SleuthSayers.org| location=[[Orlando]] |date=2011-10-16}}</ref> In response to this gesture of trust, Captain America gave his original triangular shield to T'Chaka,<ref>''Black Panther'', vol. 3 #30 (May 2001)</ref> whose son T'Challa would join the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]] a generation later as the [[Black Panther (comics)|Black Panther]] and become a close ally of Captain America. The original shield still resides in Wakanda as a national treasure.
Upon his return to the U.S., Captain America received a second triangular shield that he used until given his disc-shaped shield, which was personally presented to him by President [[Franklin Roosevelt]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stern|first=Roger|title=Captain America, vol. 1 #255 "The Living Legend!"|year=1981|publisher=Marvel Comics}}</ref> This second triangular shield would be kept in storage with Rogers' other personal effects after the war. It was recovered at some point after Rogers joined the superhero team the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]] in ''The Avengers'' #4, and was kept at [[Avengers Mansion]]. It was destroyed by the supervillain [[Mr. Hyde (comics)|Mr. Hyde]] during a raid on the mansion by [[Baron Zemo]]'s [[Masters of Evil]], and later "plucked from time" and restored by Zemo in ''[[Thunderbolts (comics)|Thunderbolts]]'' #105 (Oct. 2006). The shield (along with other sentimental items thought destroyed) were returned to Captain America. A third triangular shield is kept in the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. It was used by Captain America when he foiled a terrorist attack on the museum itself after the loss of his usual shield; it was then given to him in gratitude. This shield is destroyed several issues later by a [[Kree]] alien warrior.
The shield destroyed by Hyde and restored by Zemo was eventually passed on to [[Patriot (comics) Elijah Bradley|Elijah Bradley]], the teenage hero known as the Patriot and leader of the [[Young Avengers]].
Revised history
In 2010, the history of the original shield was revised. In the limited series Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers, Captain America, Sergeant Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos meet Azzari (grandfather of T'Challa) -- the Black Panther and king of Wakanda during World War II. Aided by Wakandan military forces, they successfully repel a series of Nazi assaults led by the Red Skull and Baron Strucker. During the battle, the Red Skull (wearing a battle-suit) crushes the triangular shield, and Captain America uses a circular vibranium shield provided by Azzari to incapacitate the Skull. The weapon serves as the inspiration for the circular shield that the super-soldier begins using upon his return to America, and the encounter marks the beginning of friendly relations between the United States and Wakanda.
The circular shield most associated with Captain America made its debut in Captain America Comics #2 (April 1941). A concavo-convex metal disc approximately 2.5 feet (0.76 m) in diameter, it is virtually indestructible and has remained his most constant shield over the decades.
Again through retroactive continuity, it is established that the shield was presented to Rogers by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[6] The shield is created by a fictional Americanmetallurgist named Myron MacLain, who had been commissioned by the US government to create an indestructible armor material to aid the war effort. MacLain experiments with the vibration-absorbing metal vibranium.[2]
During one of his experiments to fuse vibranium with an experimental iron alloy,[7] MacLain falls asleep and awakens to find the experiment a success. This is due to an unknown catalyst entering the process during his slumber, and he is unable to duplicate the result. The vibranium-iron alloy mix is then poured into a mold for a tank's upper hatch to create the disc shape and painted to become Captain America's symbol.
Rogers' indestructible shield was long referred to, even in continuity, as being composed of an adamantium steel-vibranium alloy. The vibranium in the shield grants it unusual properties, allowing it to absorb virtually all of the kinetic impact from any blows that the shield receives without injuring Rogers in the process. The vibranium is also a factor in the way Rogers throws his shield: he often uses it to ricochet around a room and strike various opponents with little loss of velocity in its forward movement after each impact.
When Rogers returns from suspended animation, Tony Stark "improves" the shield by incorporating electronic and magnetic components in it so that Rogers can even control it in flight. Rogers soon discards the additional components because he finds that it upsets the balance of the shield when thrown.
After the shield is broken during the Fear Itself event, it is reassembled by Asgardian blacksmiths, who add some of the mystical metal Uru to the reconstructed shield.[8]
During his early years in the Avengers, when it is not firmly established that the disc-shaped shield is indestructible, the shield is destroyed or lost several times in the comics, returning without explanation. It is eventually retconned that these are steel replicas, with the actual shield being borrowed by Stark for analysis and returned to Rogers later.[citation needed]
After Rogers' death, Stark takes over custody of the shield, with one replica on display in a museum, and another replica buried with Rogers. The real one is kept by Stark to be used by the new Captain America, whenever they deem it appropriate to train a new one. After failing to find a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent capable of throwing it properly, Stark offers the shield to Clint Barton (known at that time as Ronin), who does manage to throw it. Clint soon rescinds his decision to take up the mantle of Captain America after a confrontation involving the Young Avengers, during which he scolds Kate Bishop for using the Hawkeye name. She tells him that the "Real Cap" gave her that name in honor of his (then thought to be) dead friend. The shield is subsequently stolen by the Winter Soldier, who did not want anyone else to carry the shield. Inevitably, in an effort to honor Rogers' last wishes, Stark offers to let the Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) keep the shield, and to serve as the new Captain America. Bucky accepts. This offer is made "off the books," and only the two of them, the Black Widow, and the Falcon, are aware of the situation.
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