Spartan Sway 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.

Middle English swēven, to-move-side-to-side. As a color modifier, sway implies a side-to-side-and-rocking-and-rhythmic quality, the visual register of willow-branch-and-tall-grass-sway hand-side-to-side-and-rocking-and-rhythmic willow-branch-and-tall-grass-and-pendulum-clock swayed-and-side-to-side-and-rocking-and-rhythmic surfaces under willow-branch-and-tall-grass-and-pendulum-clock breeze-rocked-and-pendulum-and-cradle riverbank-meadow-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to drift and float 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.