The Hradčany Circles Design
For the Circles Design, Mucha returned to white letters upon a dark background, put two circles in each of the side panels and combined česko-slovenská into a single hyphenated word situated in a new colored strip placed between the lower panel and the vignette. This arrangement of the caption would remain in effect for all remaining design changes.
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| Early Phase | Late Phase |
The two phases of the Circles Design differ chiefly in the vignette. While the sun is present in the early phase and gone from the late phase, the most striking difference between the two phases is the rendering of the shrubbery: the white bushes of the early phase are shaded in for the late phase.
Classic Czechoslovak philately terms the early phase of the Circles Design The Third Design and its late phase The Fourth Design. These designations, however, do not reflect either the intimate relationship between these two phases nor their distance from the other designs of the Hradčany issue.