What were Aztec shields made of?

We don’t know for sure, but suspect that this would relate not so much to rank as to personal preference and ‘budget’! Just because cane was involved, it doesn’t mean it was ‘cheap and cheerful’. Prof. John Pohl writes, talking about Aztec shields in general: ‘The strongest were constructed of fire-hardened cane or wooden rods interwoven with heavy cotton. They were further decorated with a lower fringe of feather, leather, or cloth strips to provide additional protection to the legs. Others were composed of solid wood sometimes sheathed in copper. Shields were lavishly painted or ornamented with leatherwork in a wide variety of heraldic designs that demonstrated the prowess of the owner...’

No, a novice or one-captive warrior would have carried an undecorated shield. The cuauhchimalli was reserved for élite warriors. Try and have a look at the Codex Mendoza fol. 65r, where you can see the parallel sequence of seniority and shield designs shown clearly.

John Pohl, in his (highly recommended) book ‘Aztec Warrior AD 1325-1521’, mentions that ‘The Aztecs... were the first to to employ [the broadsword] as a general issue weapon. Many were carved or painted with intricate designs’ and he refers the reader to the illustration which we’ve added to this page, above... We don’t know if Jaguar Warriors had their own exclusive designs - quite possibly.

Apologies for not responding to this sooner!
We hope it may help to read what a world expert on Aztec art, Esther Pasztory, writes in this context: ‘In making shields and insignia, the feathers were glued to maguey leaves, which acted as thin paper over bamboo frameworks... To enrich an especially elaborate object the feathers were ornamented with gold.’

You’re referring to the image at the top of our ‘Chimalli’ feature (in the Aztec Artefacts section). This is the ‘cuexyo’ style of shield design, the most common of those found in the Codex Mendoza. It’s a Huaxtec style design, and the four ‘eye’ motifs are ‘yacametztli’ nose ornaments, the motif of the pulque deities and a symbol of the Huaxtec region in general.

Simplest answer we can give is that Aztec shields were generally around 30 inches (76 cm) in diameter. Hope that helps...

All wars...

Er, we thought we’d more or less answered this, above! If you want more, go to: http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/artefacts/chimalli-defensive-weapon-par-excellence

Don’t read too much into these names. Yaochimalli simply means ‘war shield’ - as opposed to ceremonial or parade shields (of the handful of Aztec shields that have survived, most are of the latter type); Otlachimalli simply means ‘bamboo shield’; the most interesting is the last, cuauhchimalli: this means ‘eagle shield’, and is the name of a special shield with an eagle’s foot design (see the Codex Mendoza, fol. 65r). It’s one of two very similar and special designs, the other being one with a jaguar’s paw - presumably representing respectively members of the Eagle Knight and Jaguar Knight orders, only reached after you had captured 5 enemy warriors in battle. The colonial document ‘Primeros Memoriales’ has this description of the eagle’s foot shield: ‘It is covered with eagle feathers. [The eagle’s] foot is fashioned upright and its claws are of gold. It has a hanging border [of feathers].’
On the question of holding the shield, you’ve raised in interesting point - touched on by Marco Cervera Obregón (see his article ‘Mexica Weaponry’ on our Aztecs homepage): in his book ‘Guerreros Aztecas’ he suggests that Mexica warriors used both: most were full-size (c. 30” in diameter) war shields, strapped to the arm, whereas there are images (such as the Tovar Manuscript, fol. 34) that appear to show a smaller one being used by a tied captured warrior in a gladiatorial fight more as a buckler. Remember of course that in these fights, captives were provided with ‘token’ weapons in contrast to the fully armed, freely moving Aztec élite warriors they almost always lost to.

Say please...

According to John Pohl, the shield represented the soul of the warrior - and was often burned with him on death. Maybe that’s why so few actual warrior shields have survived...? Read ‘Did war shield symbols represent cities?’ in our ‘Ask Us’ section.

They had both. See more examples in our little feature on the Aztec shield: it’s called chimaili and it’s in the ‘Aztec Artefacts’ section.

These differences are set out to some degree in the Codex Mendoza. We’ve hinted at some of the factors involved in our answer to another, more recent, shield-related question, further up this page: look for ’Did war shield symbols represent cities?’ in the right-hand menu...