Basali

Basali is a color that appears when red is mixed with white. It is described as a light red with high brightness and low saturation. The Somali name derives from basa, a plant whose interior color resembles this shade.

In color science systems, basali is not a single wavelength of light. It is a composite color: it requires red light combined with white light covering all wavelengths. For this reason it does not appear in the rainbow, and is classified among colors created by the brain through mixing.

How it is made

In printing and dyeing, basali is obtained by mixing red with white. The more white added, the lighter the color becomes. Adding blue or violet produces a mauve-like shade; adding yellow produces a salmon or beige-like variant.

Occurrence in nature

Basali appears in many flowers, such as roses and carnations, which use this color to attract birds and insects that spread pollen. It also appears in the flesh of certain fish, in flamingos, and in clouds at sunrise and sunset when sunlight passes through thick atmosphere.

Cultural meaning

The cultural significance attached to basali varies across societies and time periods. In the West during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, basali has commonly been associated with girls and children, a practice arising from marketing conventions that emerged relatively recently. Before the twentieth century, this strict association was not observed, and there were periods when light red was regarded as a masculine color, since it was a variant of red that signaled authority.