Regal Nave Crimson

Latin rēgālis, kingly — derived from rēx (king). As a color modifier, regal implies a saturated-and-royal-formality quality, the deep-rich color of British-Coronation-period royal vestment-and-mantle and Imperial-State-Crown regalia. Sits at the bold-and-imperial end of the grid, parallel to sovereign and royal in usage.

Latin navis, ship. As a color modifier, nave implies a long-cathedral-central-aisle quality, the visual register of Romanesque-and-Gothic-cathedral hand-built central-aisle nave-and-clerestory-and-vault architectural surfaces under Gothic-and-Romanesque clerestory-and-stained-glass light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to apse and aisle in usage.

From the Old Spanish cremesin, itself from the Arabic qirmiz — the kermes scale insect, dried and ground into a brilliant carmine dye prized in the medieval Mediterranean. For centuries the most expensive red on a draper's shelf, reserved for cardinals, kings, and the cloth that gave English the word crimson. Cooler than scarlet, deeper than rose; the color of pomegranate seeds and a serious occasion.