I took these pictures on a perfectly clear day, as the sky behind them shows. While the light itself was neutral, white sunlight, it was still strong enough to clearly point out a difference in color saturation (not shown as well through the pictures). While this difference in saturation is clearly due to pigment as opposed to light, it is still able to show how much of a difference saturation can make. The first flag looked new, with bold, striking colors that made it stand out from everything around it. (Being struck by the strength of color of that flag actually prompted this post.) The second flag is much older and faded, especially on the orange bars. It comes across more as a tint and is far less striking than the fully saturated primary colors of the first flag.
Definitely pigment based and not light! But the clarity of the white sunlight is definitely what is causing us to be able to see the difference in the coloration of the flags. All the color rays being represented at once in a blend of "white light" is causing all of the colors to pop.
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