A round shield can refer to any type of hand-held

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

that has a round shape. They come in highly varying sizes, and have, in different forms, been very popular in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, throughout the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, the classical period, the post-classical period, and the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

. During the Bronze Age they were generally large and designed for bashing and shield wall tactics (such as Spartan bronze shields), while since the late post-classical they were mostly designed for parrying and

riposte In fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most ...

(such as the small buckler, supplanted by the

heater shield The heater shield or heater-shaped shield is a form of Middle Ages, European medieval shield, developing from the early medieval kite shield in the late 12th century in response to the declining importance of the shield in combat thanks to impr ...

). At the end of the period of

Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC.. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainla ...

round shields with a central grip were the most commonly used shields in the area. Although offering less protection, especially to the legs than the kite shield, the round shield was sometimes used as an offensive weapon. The word "swashbuckler" came from this, as soldiers beat their weapon against the buckler.

List of round shields

* aspis * buckler *

clipeus In the military of classical antiquity, a ''clipeus'' (; Ancient Greek: Aspis, ἀσπίς) was a large shield worn by the Ancient Greece, Greek Hoplite, hoplites and Ancient Rome, Romans as a piece of defensive armor, which they carried upon t ...

dhal Dal is a term in the Indian subcontinent for dried, split pulses. Dal or DAL may also refer to: Places Cambodia *Dal, Ke Chong Finland * Laakso, a neighbourhood of Helsinki India *Dal Lake, in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India *Dal Lake ...

parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

taming A tame animal is an animal that is relatively tolerant of human presence. Tameness may arise naturally (as in the case, for example, of island tameness) or due to the deliberate, human-directed process of animal training, training an animal agai ...

targe The targe is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his ...

* viking shield * yetholm-type shield

References

Shields {{medieval-armour-stub

List of round shields

See also

References