Warning: Spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ahead!

Captain America’s shield might be the most iconic and recognized symbol in the MCU, but there is a deeper meaning behind it. Much like America herself, the patriotic, symbolic shield has been through it all.

The shield is made out of vibranium, arguably making it the most indestructible object in the Marvel world. Able to absorb all kinetic energy, it kept Steve Rogers safe for years, and it is a big factor in who he is and how he grows into the Captain America that helped bring everyone back from the blip. But the shield has taken its blows both physically and metaphorically.

In Endgame, Thanos severely damages the shield as he strikes it multiple times, breaking off a major part of it. However, the shield is not gone. The shield has survived the many blows, just like America. As Rodgers travels through time to replace the Infinity Stones, he grabs the shield again. Although Rodgers will no longer be Cap, he passes the shield on to Sam Wilson—because the world without Captain America is no world to live in.

In the newly created The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Wilson gives the shield right back to the government, feeling as if that is where it belongs best.

However, the department went against Wilson’s wishes of hanging up the shield and appointed a new “Captain America,” right along with handing off the shield to John Walker who doesn’t give the shield the justice it deserves. Once again the government makes a mistake, that in and of itself says so much.

Rodgers never used his shield for fame, but as a symbol of hope and safety for his people. Walker wanted to have power and to be seen, which quickly ended badly for him.

Walker takes the shield and attacks Nico in retaliation for his friend’s death. As a crowd watches and records, their new American hero brutally ends Nico’s life. Then, the biggest scene shown to the world is the image of the shield covered with blood. The symbol that once was a symbol of life and hope that Walker promised to protect was now a symbol of death.

Not only the death of a human, but the death of the most iconic symbol in the world. It’s legacy was torn to pieces as the whole world was watching. As the shield dies, Walker loses his position rightfully with it.

Through the death of the shield, Wilson finally sees Rodgers’ vision. Only one man, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, can restore the shield and America’s faith in those stars and stripes. So he takes up the shield like he was once asked to do.

He uses the shield to show the symbolism once again. America will survive. It will survive through the hope and realization that we are all in this together. It doesn’t matter what race, religion, political affiliation, blip or no blip; it is our responsibility as a country to stand up, to pull ourselves up and to do what is right. Rodgers understood this, and now Sam understands as well.

Cap’s shield has truly been one of the most symbolic symbols throughout Marvel. Now that there is a new Captain America, the shield will probably continue its symbolic journey. I guess we will have to wait and see in Captain America 4!