Valiant Hover Royal

Latin valēns, strong — present-participle of valēre, sharing root with English value and valor. As a color modifier, valiant implies a saturated-and-courageous-and-firm quality, the deep-rich color of Crusader-and-Knight-Templar military-religious-order vestment. Sits at the bold-and-chivalrous end of the grid, parallel to gallant and heroic in usage.

Middle English hoveren, to-remain-suspended. As a color modifier, hover implies a suspended-and-floating-and-hesitant quality, the visual register of kestrel-and-hummingbird-hover hand-suspended-and-floating-and-hesitant kestrel-and-hummingbird-and-dragonfly hovered-and-suspended-and-floating-and-hesitant surfaces under kestrel-and-hummingbird-and-dragonfly heat-shimmer-and-summer-meadow-and-cliff-edge mid-air-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to float and flit 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.