An environmentally friendly red-light flare was a pyrotechnic (firework) flare which used lithium-based formulations that emitted red light. A flare is used for signaling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian or military applications. It is based on a non-hygroscopic (not absorbing air) dilithium nitrogen-rich salt that served as an oxidizer and red colorant. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the Ludwig Maximilian Institution were credited as the research facilities for developing this product announced in January 2018.[1]