Rugged Tied Royal

Old Norse rugga, rough / coarse — adjectival suffix -ed. As a color modifier, rugged implies a saturated-and-rough-and-weathered quality, the deep-rich color of Scottish-Highlands-and-Norwegian-fjord outdoor-and-mountain landscape. Sits at the bold-and-weathered end of the grid, parallel to tough and sinewy in usage.

Old English tīgan, to-tie or to-bind. As a color modifier, tied implies a hand-tied-and-knotted quality, the visual register of hand-tied-and-knotted-rope-and-string hand-tied-and-knotted-fishing-net-and-shoelace-and-bow hand-tied-and-knotted-rope-and-cord surfaces under hand-tied-and-knotted-rope-and-cord working-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to sewn and knot 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.