It's not much of a surprise that Captain America's costume is a symbol of America itself. It has the red-blue-white color scheme and the stars carefully worked in, making his identity as a patriotic superhero pretty self-evident.

RELATED: 10 Times Captain America Proved He Is The Strongest Avenger In The MCU

Yet, the suit that he wears in the Avengers films as well as in the comics, has undergone subtle variations over the years, despite being true to the original color scheme. And it even has quite an interesting history. Read on, to find out some not-so-well-known details about the Avenger's iconic costume!

10 Captain America's Uniform Was Initially His Performance Costume

captain america costume

Many of us who dream of being superheroes in a parallel life, give in to our fantasies when we cosplay our favorite characters. When we cosplay as Captain America, we don't have his superpowers, but we can still pretend to be him. Well. Guess what? His superhero suit too has humble origins.

It was provided by the USO, and Steve Rogers wore these while performing in shows, in order to boost support for the war and improve morale. The vibrantly-colored America-esque outfit made for an excellent costume on stage. And sometimes while performing, he'd even hide his cheat sheet of lines in his shield!

9 His Second Costume Was Designed By Howard Stark

The suit that he wears in Captain America: The First Avenger was designed by none other than Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark.

The uniform designed by Stark was made from a carbon polymer that is resistant to knife and ballistic damage, making Steve Rogers pretty difficult to hurt or incapacitate.

8 His Costume Almost Got Redesigned

The traditional attire that we associate with Captain America, may have been trashed in favor of something else, had things worked out differently. In 1966, Marvel Comics was sued by Joe Simon, who said he owned the design of Captain America. However, Marvel responded by saying that they owned the rights to the character.

Jack Kirby decided to prepare himself with two different designs of the costume and was ready to give the design of Captain America an overhaul, had the lawsuit been won by Simon. So had things been different, we may have had a very different version of Captain America to look up to!

RELATED: 10 Times Captain America Betrayed Us All

7 There's An Energy Version Of His Shield

We're all aware and in awe of just how powerful Captain America's shield is. And, given that it's made from vibranium, a mineral only found in Wakanda, it's pretty potent and indestructible. However, in the comics, Steve Rogers used an energy version of his shield.

It was given to him by Sharon Rogers and was connected to his glove. It had a limited-range photon accelerator, similar to the way the vibranium functioned in the original suit. It also had some other "whiz-bangs" built in, but it turns out Captain America preferred the real thing. He soon ditched it and went back to using his vibrant-powered shield to fend off attackers.

6 He Wears Bulletproof-Scale Armor Beneath His Uniform

Captain America didn't start out with any superpowers until he was injected with the Super Soldier serum that enhanced his strength, endurance and durability master-fold. In fact, he was pretty mortal and ordinary to begin with. However, unlike Tony Stark, whose superhero strength comes from the arc reactor that powers up his Iron Man exoskeleton suit, Captain America's costumes have some pretty neat tricks as well.

In fact, his suit isn't just for show and provides him with added protection and coverage. It is made from a fire-retardant material and he wears scale armor beneath his uniform. This armor is bulletproof, light and made of duralumin. No wonder, the bullets simply bounce off him and he's just so difficult to hit!

5 Agent Phil Coluson Had A Small Role In Designing His Avengers Costume

Agent Phil Coluson was quite the Captain America fan, and he even suggested that the Avenger needed a more "old-fashioned" look to his suit. The suit with its bold colors, is a throwback to Captain America's patriotic roots and embodies what the character has stood for.

And given that Steve has just woken up and is gradually fitting in with the other Avengers, the suit gives him a sense of identity and purpose.

RELATED: Endgame: 10 Reasons Captain America’s Time Travel Paradox Makes Sense

4 His Shield Was Originally Triangular

Captain America's shield which forms such a distinctive part of his costume, wasn't originally circular. In fact, in the initial character design, the Avenger wielded a triangular-shaped shield.

This look was very similar to a character in Archie Comics, also called "The Shield" whose chest bore a similar pattern. As a result, Captain America's shield took on the design of a disc to avoid confusion and copyright infringement.

3 Tony Stark Had Designed An Exoskeleton Suit

In the comics, Iron Man had once designed a superior exoskeleton suit for Captain America. Similar to Iron Man's own suit, it bore the colors associated with Captain America but came packed with some nifty features.

For instance, the exoskeleton suit had missile launchers and a metallic body, making the wearer super-destructive and nearly indestructible.

RELATED: Captain America: 10 Steve Rogers Quotes That Inspire All of Us

2 In The Films, He's Had At Least 5 Different Uniforms

Captain America has appeared in several of the MCU films, and his traditional suit has undergone a few changes over the years. Depending on the situation he was in, he's had several costumes.

Beginning with the USO performance attire to his field uniform in the war when he saves Bucky's life, his costume has come quite a long way.S.H.I.E.L.D even gave him a special STRIKE Stealth uniform. And at the end of Endgame, it's this uniform that he wears when he travels back in time to return all the Infinity Stones to their right moments in time.

1 Captain America's Blue Helmet Has A History

Captain America originally wore a blue helmet to hide his identity from enemy soldiers during World War II. When he woke up almost a century later, he still clung on to the blue mask and it formed a part of his costume. He then took to wearing a blue helmet.

However, in recent films, he doesn't wear that helmet anymore. Which is your favorite Captain America costume?

NEXT: Marvel: 5 DC Heroes Captain America Could Defeat (And 5 He Wouldn't Stand A Chance Against)