These illustrations of Masai shield patterns are drawn from photographs published in 1954. The shields were carried by the Kitaalo area moran. The source is "Spearing Lions with Africa's Masai" by Edgar Monsanto Queeny, pages 487 to 518 in the October 1954 issue of National Geographic (volume CVI, number 4).

According to the article, "Paints applied to buffalo-hide shields (with sticks) are made of charcoal, red stone, bone and ocher. Paterns designate age grades and sections of the tribe. Small circular paintings signify outstanding bravery: consent of all moran in a village musty be obtained before such marks are inscribed."

There are more shields in the article, and some other useful photographs; in color. I would imagine that things may have changed or been lost over fifty years, but they must be of interest to fellow readers of The Heliograph.

The shield design below was drawn from one in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.