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- This article is about the handheld defensive device. For other meanings of the word see shield (disambiguation)
A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand, as opposed to armour and a bullet proof vest.
The oldest form of shield was a protection used to block attacks by hand weapons and arrows. Shields have varied greatly in construction over time and place. Lightly armoured warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry small round shields sometimes made of metal but more often of wood.
The heavily armoured Roman legionaries carried large rectangular shields that could provide far more protection, but made swift movement more difficult. Famously the Romans used their shields to create tortoise like formations in which the entire group of fighters would be eclosed in an armoured box.
In the European Middle Ages diamond shaped shields, more easily used on horseback, became paramount. This inspired the shaped of the heraldic shield that is still used today.
Shields were used in war up until the 17th century, when gunpowder powered weapons made shields obsolete in the battlefield.
Shields for protection from armed attack is still used by many police forces around the world. Shields are sometimes used on artillery, as well.
Many non martial devices also employ shields. Space craft have heat shields to ensure and safe reentry.
Science fiction writers have imagined many futuristic shields, usually using force fields. These include personal shields, as in the Dune series, or larger ones for spacecraft as in Star Trek. See shield (science fiction) for more.
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