Commanding Baldr Crimson

Latin commendāre, to entrust / order — present-participle of command. As a color modifier, commanding implies a saturated-and-authoritative quality where the hue claims visual leadership of its surrounding palette. Sits at the bold-and-authoritative end of the grid, parallel to authoritative and imperial in usage.

Old Norse Baldr, fair-and-shining-god-of-light. As a color modifier, baldr implies a fair-and-shining-god-of-light quality, the visual register of Norse-Baldr-and-Breidablik-hall hand-fair-and-shining-god-of-light Norse-Baldr-and-Breidablik-hall-and-mistletoe-fall baldr-and-fair-and-shining-god-of-light surfaces under Norse-Baldr-and-Breidablik-hall-and-mistletoe-fall Asgard-pantheon-and-Hel-descent fair-radiance-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to odin and freya 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.