Fans had a whole year to think about and analyze the events of the Avengers: the final, but one moment until recently remained in question. Moreover, when it comes to discussion, even the cinematographers themselves cannot come to a common opinion. We are talking about how it is Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) manage to be in the past.
But the scene in which Captain America made his successor Sam Wilson (Anthony Maki), it seems, put the end of this riddle. Obviously, Steve was supposed to create a new timeline, otherwise the new shield, which went to falcon, simply could not exist. It is important to note that, going back in the past, Cap did not capture the shield destroyed by Tanos, and therefore it was not possible to restore it.
As the ScreenRant portal suggests, in alternative reality, Steve met with Howard Starka or, possibly, a black panther, and one of them created a new shield from Vibranium from scratch for him. It was probably necessary only to be after returning to the main timeline shield could be at Sam.
And yes, you can not doubt that it is about a new shield, because there are several key differences between the original and the version that got falcon. The silver stripe got a clearer edging, and the star in the center also looks different.
True, at least this argument seems absolutely indisputable, in those who do not believe in the existence of an alternative reality created by the CEP, the loophole remains. After all, it is also possible that Steve at some point could take a new shield made in one of the decades of the basic reality of the film. So the fans still have a topic for discussion.