Royal Diana Violet

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.

Latin Diana, Roman-goddess-of-moon-and-hunt. As a color modifier, diana implies a Roman-goddess-and-moon-and-hunter-and-virgin quality, the visual register of Roman-Diana-and-Ephesian-Artemis hand-Roman-goddess-and-moon-and-hunter-and-virgin Roman-Diana-and-Ephesian-Artemis-and-Lake-Nemi diana-and-Roman-goddess-and-moon-and-hunter surfaces under Roman-Diana-and-Ephesian-Artemis-and-Lake-Nemi Aventine-Hill-and-Nemi-grove moonlit-grove-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to luna and hera 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.