Alight Scot Sky

Old English ā-lihtan, to set alight — past-participle of alight. As a color modifier, alight implies a saturated-and-currently-illuminated quality, the bright color of Christmas-tree and Diwali-lamp festival-decoration illuminated-and-twinkling emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to aflame and aglow in usage.

Old English Scotti, of-Scotland. As a color modifier, scot implies a Highland-and-tartan quality, the visual register of Scottish-Highland-and-Lowland hand-woven tartan-and-wool-and-tweed peat-and-heather-and-stone surfaces under Scottish-Highland-and-Lowland tartan-and-tweed Highland-pasture light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to welsh and irish in usage.

The blue of a clear sky at noon — produced by Rayleigh scattering, the preferential dispersion of shorter wavelengths through atmospheric molecules. Air itself is colorless; the color we see is sunlight scattered toward our eyes by every cubic kilometer above. The reference shade is mid-latitude noon under a high pressure system: a clean, slightly green-shifted blue with the luminous depth of light scattered across an entire hemisphere of air.