Smoldering Pall violet

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.

Latin pallium, cloak-or-funeral-cover. As a color modifier, pall implies a cloaked-and-shrouded-and-funereal quality, the visual register of Roman-Catholic-and-Anglican-pall hand-cloaked-and-shrouded-and-funereal Roman-Catholic-and-Anglican-and-Orthodox-funeral funeral-pall-and-coffin-shroud-and-altar-cloth surfaces under Roman-Catholic-and-Anglican funeral-pall-and-coffin-shroud cathedral-incense light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to gloom and shade in usage.

Viola odorata, the European sweet violet — small, fragrant, and the original meaning of the color name in English (the Violet of the rainbow). The color refers to a fresh sweet violet blossom in late winter: a saturated, slightly red-shifted deep blue-purple with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than indigo, with the perfumed weight of a flower used in Roman garlands and Victorian eau de toilette.