Collection · 24 palettes

Art Deco Color Palettes

Gold, black, deep blue, and the geometric luxury of the 1920s.

Art Deco is Sanzo Wada's nearest Western contemporary — the style that defined the visual culture of the 1920s–30s, the same decades Wada was compiling his dictionary in Tokyo. Both systems share the same impulse: reduce color to its formal essence, honor craft and material, and build beauty from geometric restraint. The Art Deco palette — gold, black, ivory, deep blue, lacquer red — translates directly into Wada's vocabulary: 'kin' (金 — metallic gold), 'sumi' (墨 — ink black), 'kon' (紺 — deep indigo), 'kurenai' (紅 — crimson), 'kinari' (生成り — natural ivory). These combinations are the foundation for luxury packaging, hotel identity, jewelry brand systems, and any design project that should feel architecturally precise and materially rich.

Kamakura era

Vermillion, Black, Gold— 朱・黒・金

The ceremonial triad of temple lacquerware — vermillion, lacquer black, gold leaf.

Heian era

Crimson & Navy— 紅と紺

Deep safflower crimson against navy — the courtly contrast of Heian-era robes and formal Edo textiles.

Meiji era

Deep Indigo & Cream— 紺と生成

The darkest indigo against unbleached cream — the color of a Meiji schoolboy's uniform.

Edo era

Indigo Blue & Silver— 縹と銀

Mid-grade indigo with the quiet sheen of silver — an understated Edo merchant robe.

Edo era

Kite Brown & Gold— 鳶と黄金

The warm brown of a kite's wing lit by afternoon gold.

Edo era

Kerria Gold & Chestnut— 山吹と栗

The bright gold of the kerria flower against the warm brown of roasted chestnut.

Edo era

Pale Blue & Vermillion— 浅葱と朱

The faded blue of Shinsengumi jackets against shrine-gate vermillion — restrained power.

Edo era

Madder Red & Evergreen— 茜と常磐

The rooted red of madder-dyed cotton set against enduring pine green.

Kamakura era

Red Lead & Ink— 鉛丹と墨

The dense orange-red of lead oxide pigment struck against ink black.

Edo era

Crimson Lake & Pine— 臙脂と松葉

The deep lake crimson of cochineal against pine needle green — winter evergreen.

Showa era

Grenadine Pink & Deep Indigo

Plate 6 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Grenadine Pink, Deep Indigo.

Showa era

Vandyke Red & Pale King's Blue

Plate 16 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Vandyke Red, Pale King's Blue.

Showa era

Eugenia Red | B & Sea Green

Plate 17 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Eugenia Red | B, Sea Green.

Showa era

Fawn & Dusky Madder Violet

Plate 18 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Fawn, Dusky Madder Violet.

Showa era

Calamine BLue & Laelia Pink

Plate 20 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Calamine BLue, Laelia Pink.

Showa era

Grenadine Pink & Sea Green

Plate 21 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Grenadine Pink, Sea Green.

Showa era

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Plate 24 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sepia, Veronia Purple.

Showa era

Etruscan Red & Nile Blue

Plate 25 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Etruscan Red, Nile Blue.

Showa era

Corinthian Pink & Slate Color

Plate 27 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Corinthian Pink, Slate Color.

Showa era

Madder Brown & Deep Indigo

Plate 28 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Madder Brown, Deep Indigo.

Showa era

Pompeian Red & Mineral Gray

Plate 30 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pompeian Red, Mineral Gray.

Showa era

Red Orange & Pale Lemon Yellow

Plate 31 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Red Orange, Pale Lemon Yellow.

Showa era

Light Brown Drab & Carmine Red

Plate 35 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Light Brown Drab, Carmine Red.

Showa era

Brick Red & Red Violet

Plate 37 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Brick Red, Red Violet.

From the archive

Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.

All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues

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