Spartan Hewn Royal

Greek Spartiátēs, of Sparta — adjectival suffix referring to the Lacedaemonian warrior city. As a color modifier, spartan implies a saturated-and-disciplined-and-formal quality, the deep-rich color of Spartan-hoplite military-class crimson-and-bronze armor-and-cloak. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to austere and stern in tone.

Old English hēawan, to-hew. As a color modifier, hewn implies a hand-cut-stone-or-timber quality, the visual register of hand-hewn-stone-and-timber hand-cut-and-shaped stone-and-timber-and-log hand-hewn-construction-and-craft surfaces under hand-hewn stone-and-timber workshop-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to carved and cast in usage.

The blue of European royal court dress and regalia from the late seventeenth century forward — the color of British peers' robes, French royal sashes, the lining of the crown-jewel cases. The color refers to a saturated, slightly violet-shifted blue with the matte finish of velvet or melton wool dyed to maximum intensity: deeper than cornflower, warmer than ultramarine, with the heraldic weight of a color reserved for monarchs and the official Crown.