In 1936, the postal administration issued a new-design definitive airmail set comprising 10 denominations. The stamp designs were created by Sándor Légrády on direct commission.
The issue masterfully combines the formal language of Art Deco with Hungarian national symbolism, strongly reflecting the revisionist atmosphere of the 1930s. Using the dynamic diagonal lines, planar backgrounds and geometric stylisation characteristic of Art Deco, Sándor Légrády conveys speed, modern technology and faith in the future. Aeroplanes and mail coaches symbolise development and progress, while Hungarian national symbols—the double cross, the Holy Crown and the Budapest Parliament Building—feature prominently in the compositions, evoking national identity and hopes for the recovery of territories lost after the First World War. The issue therefore expresses both the interweaving of modernism and national tradition and the political aspiration of the period for the rebirth of “Greater Hungary”.
The stamps were produced with three different designs in ten different colours. With this stamp issue, the Hungarian postal administration won first prize in the Central European states group at the 1936 international stamp exhibition in Florida.
