How to Draw a Shield Using Illustrator

• Select the ellipse tool (circle) and hold shift down and drag out a circle (this tool is normally near the top, hidden under the rectangle tool)
• Switch the fill and the stroke so that the circle has a black outline and white centre
• Increase the weight of the stroke so that the circle is mainly black

• Create a square with a black fill and white stroke
• Select the direct selection tool and select just the top two corners of the square
• Select the scale tool and hold down shift
• Still holding down shift, click and hold down the left mouse key and drag the two corners inwards
• Turn on Smart Guides – View>Smart Guides
• Drag the ‘square’ over to the circle and add it to the top of the circle:

• Copy the ‘square’ at the top and then go to Edit>Paste in Place
• Go to Transform>Reflect and reflect horizontally
• Drag the second ‘square’ down to the bottom of the circle

• Select both squares
• Go to Object>Group
• Click on the top square and then holding shift click the circle
• Go to the Align Menu – and select ‘vertically align center’
• Now the shapes should be aligned perfectly relative to the circle
• Go to Object>Ungroup

• Select the squares
• Go to Edit>Copy then Paste in place
• Object>Transform>Rotate and enter 90

• Select all 4 squares
• Go to Edit>Copy then Paste in place
• Object>Transform>Rotate and enter 45

• Finally – convert the circle’s stroke to a shape
• Select the circle
• Go to Object>Expand and make sure Stroke is ticked and click “OK”

Ai. file can be found in my Google Drive here – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XVJ2UsGd7Y7PwcQ0Jmc3YFkmkHVVdkKY/view?usp=sharing