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 ...

is a hand-held protective device meant to intercept attacks. Shield may also refer to:

Forms of protection

From attack

* Human shield, the use of civilians to deter an attack in warfare *

Riot shield A riot shield is a lightweight protection device, typically deployed by riot police and some military unit during protest, though also utilized by protestors. Riot shields are typically long enough to cover an average-sized person from the top of ...

, used by police forces around the world for crowd control purposes * SHiELD, acronym for the United States Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator defensive laser weapon

From radiation

* Cold shield, used to protect an object from radiative heating *

Electromagnetic shielding In electrical engineering, electromagnetic shielding is the practice of reducing or redirecting the electromagnetic field (EMF) in a space with barriers made of conductive or magnetic materials. It is typically applied to enclosures, for isol ...

, the use of conductive material to block electromagnetic fields * Lead shielding, the use of lead as a form of radiation protection * Radiation shield, protection against ionizing radiation * Shielded cable, electrical conductors enclosed by a conductive layer

Other forms of protection

* Dalkon Shield, a contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD) * Gravitational shield, a hypothetical process of shielding an object from the influence of a gravitational field * Heat shield, which protects a spacecraft or ballistic missile * Tunnelling shield, used in excavation through soft soil * Shielding, or cocooning, action taken by those who are clinically extremely vulnerable in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic

Currency

* ("shield" in French), unit of currency, historically used in France * Escudo ("shield" in Portuguese and Spanish), unit of currency, historically used in Portugal, Spain, and their former colonies, and still used in Cape Verde to this day * Scudo (disambiguation) ("shield" in Italian), a unit of currency, historically used in Bolivia, several former Italian states, and Malta * Shield nickel, the first United States five cent piece to be made out of copper-nickel

Geography and geology

Shield (geology) A shield is a large area of exposed Precambrian Crystallinity, crystalline igneous rock, igneous and high-grade metamorphic rock, metamorphic rocks that form tectonics, tectonically stable areas. These rocks are older than 570 million years an ...

, a large area of exposed rocks that is tectonically stable * Shield Nunatak, a prominent nunatak in Antarctica *

Shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

, a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows

Arts, entertainment, and media

Fictional entities

* Shield (Archie Comics), one of several fictional patriotic superheroes * Shield (Artemis Fowl), in the Artemis Fowl novel series, a magical ability possessed by fairies * S.H.I.E.L.D., a fictional agency in the Marvel comics universe, led by Nick Fury * Scyld Scefing (or Shield Sheafson), a legendary Danish king in the epic poem ''Beowulf''

Games

* ''Pokémon Shield'', one of the two paired '' Pokémon Sword and Shield'' games for the Nintendo Switch * ''The Shield'' (video game), based on the television series

Television

* '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', a television series based on the Marvel comics * '' The Shield'', a television police drama

Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media

* ''Aspis'' (Menander), translated as ''The Shield'', a comedy play by Menander * "Shield" (song), a song by Deep Purple on the album ''The Book of Taliesyn'' * ''Shield'' (1963), a science-fiction novel by Poul Anderson * '' Shield of Heracles'', an archaic Greek epic poem attributed to Hesiod, concerning the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cycnus

Sports

* Baskerville Shield, a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between Great Britain and New Zealand *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

, a Northern Irish football competition * County Championship Shield, formed in 2008 and originally played for by second tier teams in the RFU County Championship *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

, an English football trophy *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

, an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association * Indonesian Community Shield, a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Indonesia every year * Istanbul Shield, a Turkish football tournament which organised between 1930 and 1939 * J. J. Giltinan Shield, an Australian rugby league football trophy *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

, a football trophy in the Netherlands named after legendary Dutch football player Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup * League Leaders' Shield, a trophy awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football *

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

, a perpetual shield awarded to the Australian state cricket team that wins the final *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

, an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system * Thacker Shield, a rugby league football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the champion clubs of the Canterbury Rugby League and West Coast Rugby League *

The Shield (professional wrestling) The Shield was a professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stable in WWE that consisted of Jon Moxley, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. The group debuted on November 18, 2012 at the Survivor Series (2 ...

, a professional wrestling stable in WWE

Technology and transportation

Bumper (car) A bumper is a structure attached to or integrated with the front and rear ends of a motor vehicle, to absorb impact in a minor collision, ideally minimizing repair costs. Stiff metal bumpers appeared on automobiles as early as 1904 that had a ...

, known as shield in British English * Shield, name for expansion boards for

Arduino Arduino () is an Italian open-source hardware and open-source software, software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardwar ...

microcontroller kits * The Nvidia range of Android-based gaming products, including: **

Nvidia Shield TV The Nvidia Shield TV (Shield Android TV or just Nvidia Shield) is an Android TV-based digital media player produced by Nvidia as part of its Shield brand of Android devices. First released in May 2015, the Shield was initially marketed by Nvid ...

** Shield Portable ** Shield Tablet

Other uses

* Shield (heraldry), the principal portion of a coat of arms * Shield (surname) *

Highway shield A highway shield or route marker is a Signage, sign denoting the route number of a highway, usually in the form of a symbolic shape with the route number enclosed. As the focus of the sign, the route number is usually the sign's largest element, ...

, the United States uses shield-shaped signs for route markers, signs displaying the name and/or number of the road along which it is placed * Shielding effect, in chemistry, reduced attraction of electrons to an atomic nucleus * Scutum (constellation) (Latin for "Shield"), a small constellation near the celestial equator * a police officer’s

badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fir ...