An airgram (abbr. ''agam'' or ''agram'') is a U.S. diplomatic term for a message sent by courier via the

diplomatic bag A diplomatic bag, also known as a diplomatic pouch, is a container with certain legal protections used for carrying official correspondence or other items between a diplomatic mission and its home government or other diplomatic, consular, or other ...

instead of by

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

. The words "AIR" and "GRAM" separated by a mark which resembles an elongated "V" is a trademarked design used on envelopes and referred to as an AirGram. This product is primarily used in quick turn around direct mail to express a sense of urgency to the mail recipient. It was first used for this purpose in 1992.

References

Diplomatic documents United States Department of State {{vocab-stub