This medal, produced in gold, silver, and bronze, was designed by Publio Morbiducci and minted in 1933 at the workshop Lorioli & Castilli in Milan. The silver and bronze versions have diameters of 22.4, 30.5, and 60 mm, while the gold versions are only known with a diameter of 30.5 mm. The medal commemorates the aerial crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by 24 Italian aeroplanes, led by Italo Balbo, Minister of the Air Force, in July 1933.

The medal’s obverse features a personification of Roma with hair resembling wings, executed in a distinctively futurist style. The reverse shows the Latin text in the centre, surrounded by eight groups of three aeroplanes flying from Rome (symbolised by the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine) to the Unites States of America (symbolised by skyscrapers), both presented from a bird’s-eye view. Under the Latin text are two waves representing the Atlantic Ocean, a bundle of stylised fasces, and the year according to both Christian and Fascist dating (1933 and 11, that is, in the eleventh year since the March on Rome in 1922). The top of the reverse moreover depicts a polar bear to emphasize the northern route taken by the aeroplanes.

Air travel garnered significant popular interest during the interwar period, and the Fascist regime regarded the instruction of an air fleet as an important source of national pride. The planes of the Atlantic crossing, flying in formation to the World Fair in Chicago, were well-received in several countries, stopping in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Iceland before leaving for New York. Despite the loss of two aircraft, the pilots were lauded upon their arrival in Rome on 12 August 1933.

The Latin plays with the words dux and ductor, both derived from the verb ducere (‘to lead’), where dux is the Latin title commonly given to Mussolini, equivalent to Italian duce, and ductor, here in the sense of commander or general, is attributed to Balbo.