:root {
  /* ---- Brand & Accent ---- */
  --color-black: #000000;          /* announcement bar, brand anchor, highest-contrast text */
  --color-near-black: #17171c;     /* primary CTA, dark footer, deep UI cards */
  --color-green-deep: #003c33;     /* product hero bands (North / Command) */
  --color-navy: #071829;           /* financial-services / security solution bands */
  --color-blue-action: #1863dc;    /* editorial links, pagination, secondary emphasis */
  --color-coral: #ff7759;          /* blog category chips, taxonomy outlines, warm markers */
  --color-coral-soft: #ffad9b;     /* pale chip borders, segmented article labels */

  /* ---- Surface & Background ---- */
  --color-white: #ffffff;          /* dominant page / card surface */
  --color-stone: #eeece7;          /* warm neutral cards, testimonial placeholders */
  --color-green-wash: #edfce9;     /* North section backdrop */
  --color-blue-wash: #f1f5ff;      /* blog CTA surface */
  --color-card-border: #f2f2f2;    /* softest card containment line */

  /* ---- Text & Rules ---- */
  --color-ink: #212121;            /* default body & link text on light */
  --color-slate-muted: #93939f;    /* footer links, dates, metadata */
  --color-slate: #75758a;          /* research separators, tertiary text */
  --color-hairline: #d9d9dd;       /* standard list rules / dividers */
  --color-border-light: #e5e7eb;   /* secondary divider / utility rule */

  /* ---- Semantic ---- */
  --color-focus-blue: #4c6ee6;     /* keyboard focus / ring */
  --color-focus-violet: #9b60aa;   /* text-input focus border */
  --color-error: #b30000;          /* validation ring / error */

  /* ---- Semantic aliases ---- */
  --surface-page: var(--color-white);
  --surface-card: var(--color-white);
  --surface-card-warm: var(--color-stone);
  --surface-dark: var(--color-near-black);
  --surface-green: var(--color-green-deep);
  --surface-navy: var(--color-navy);

  --text-primary: var(--color-ink);
  --text-on-dark: var(--color-white);
  --text-muted: var(--color-slate-muted);
  --text-tertiary: var(--color-slate);
  --text-link: var(--color-blue-action);

  --border-rule: var(--color-hairline);
  --border-card: var(--color-card-border);
  --border-utility: var(--color-border-light);

  --accent-editorial: var(--color-coral);
  --accent-link: var(--color-blue-action);

  --ring-focus: var(--color-focus-blue);
}