Smoldering Tabard Rose

The progressive participle of smolder, to burn slowly without flame. Used as a color word since the late nineteenth century for the deep reds and oranges of barely-flame coal — the warm saturated darks where the heat is internal rather than emitted. Sits in the bold-and-warm corner, slightly less luminous than burning and slightly less calm than rich.

Old French tabart, herald's-or-knight's-surcoat. As a color modifier, tabard implies a herald's-tabard-and-knight's-surcoat quality, the visual register of medieval-herald's-and-knight's-tabard hand-herald's-tabard-and-knight's-surcoat medieval-herald's-and-knight's-tabard-and-College-of-Arms tabard-and-herald's-tabard surfaces under medieval-herald's-and-knight's-tabard-and-College-of-Arms College-of-Arms-and-Bayeux-Tapestry heraldic-tabard-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to kilt and cape in usage.

The Latin rosa, the Greek rhodon, the Persian gul — every European language has a different name for the same flower and the same color. Rose covers the spectrum from blush to fuchsia depending on the cultivar, but in pigment shorthand it means a cool, slightly bluish red — the inside of a damask petal, the dye that washes out of madder root.