A past full
of colour.

Where this palette comes from

LunarSolar's northern palette draws on reconstructed Danish painted wood. A 2017 museum report combines finds from Jelling, Hørning, Grimstrup and Trelleborg, mainly around 900–1100. It offers twelve paint recipes with approximate NCS references. Our seventeen digital swatches are a later interpretation, not measured ancient RGB values.

Read the original reconstruction report →

Material changes the colour

Pigment, binder, wood grain, paint thickness and lighting all affect appearance. Experimental painting with oil and egg makes those differences visible. The reconstruction also includes a modern drying additive, so reproducing a recipe is not the same as recovering an untouched Viking surface.

EXARC: painting Viking Age woodwork →

A wider Scandinavian story

Surviving Swedish runestones retain paint traces, and textile dyes tell another material story. Colours need not fit one wood-paint chart. The surviving objects cover particular places and times, while many surfaces and colours have been lost.

Swedish National Heritage Board: runes, images and colour →

How we use it

Warm white and near-black give the interface clarity. Ochre brings the Sun’s warmth; greens and blues connect landscape and sky. Richer illustration can explore the whole palette. This is an artistic direction informed by archaeology, with space for the colours of weather and light.