Bold Deck Crimson

Old English beald, brave, courageous — a quality word that crossed over to color in the late seventeenth century. Bold describes a color that asserts itself: high saturation combined with mid lightness, where the hue presents itself without compromise. Sits at the center of the bold-bucket grid, near strong and rich. Closer to a presence word than a pigment word.

Dutch dek, covering. As a color modifier, deck implies a horizontal-floor-platform-of-ship quality, the visual register of Royal-Navy-and-Tall-Ship-Deck hand-laid horizontal-floor-platform-of-ship deck-and-deck-plank-and-caulking maritime-architecture surfaces under tall-ship-deck-and-quarter-deck maritime-overhead light. Sits at the modifier-and-nautical end of the grid, parallel to hull and bow 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.