Praetorian Nadir Indigo

Latin praetōriānus, of the praetor — adjectival suffix, referring to the Roman-Imperial elite guard-cohorts. As a color modifier, praetorian implies a saturated-and-elite-and-imperial-guard quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Praetorian-Guard elite-imperial-bodyguard scarlet-tunic-and-bronze-armor military-formation. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to spartan and imperial.

Arabic naẓīr, opposite-of-zenith. As a color modifier, nadir implies a downward-pointing-and-low-point quality, the visual register of celestial-sphere-and-downward-Nadir hand-downward-pointing-and-low-point celestial-sphere-and-downward-and-Nadir-pole nadir-and-downward-pointing-and-low-point surfaces under celestial-sphere-and-downward-and-Nadir-pole astronomical-and-celestial-mechanics downward-axis-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to zenith and axis in usage.

Indigofera tinctoria, the South Asian legume whose leaves yield the deep blue dye that has clothed humanity for at least four thousand years — Egyptian linen, Mayan textile, the slave-grown plantations of Carolina. The color refers to a freshly indigo-dyed cotton thread: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted deep blue with the slight lustre of a fiber surface oxidized in air. Deeper than cobalt, cooler than royal.