Japanese new era name is from 万葉集MAN YO SHU
万葉集(Man yo shu) is an anthology collecting 4500 tankas (a kind of poem consist of 31 syllables) which were composed by farmers,soldiers, and nobles, including emperors. It was edited in 8th century. Its 815th-846th tanka are for Ume flowers. At the top of this series of tankas, we can find a explanation telling us why and when people composed these tankas, that is ,
干時初春令月、気淑風和、梅披鏡前之粉、蘭薫珮後之香
(It was early spring, good month. The atmosphere was clear and wind blew softly. Ume flower bloomed like a lady putting makeup on in front of a mirror. And orchid gave off the scent like a perfume bottle )
This explanation was written in ancient chinese. In it we can find the letters 「令」「和」. In this case 令 means 'good'. 「和」means 'softly'. I think the scholars picked these kanjis up and combined to make 「令和」.
「令」has other meaning. It is for 'let ', 'have' , 'make'
「和」is for 'peaceful', 'intimate'.
So I think this pair of kanji eventually has meaning below
'make people intimate' 'make peoples peaceful'
I think it shows good attitude, good ideal.
