I think a lot of the color perceived is subjective and influenced by the wiring of the brain. I've always perceived the Sun's disk as very nearly white. Certainly any projected image of the Sun (as with a pin hole "camera" for solar eclipses) appears white. The only time I do not see it as white is near the horizon where it first takes on a yellow, then orange, and finally red hue (it doesn't always make it to red, depending, I suppose, on the amount of dust in the air).

My thought, then, is that our memory of seeing the Sun near the horizon affects our remembered perception of the sun. Other factors such as the amount of blue scattered, the sensitivity of our eyes at different wavelengths and experience with other sources of light, such as candles also influence our perception.

Of course I may suffer from some small amount of color blindness (when I entered the military many aeons ago I had to take a color perception test and missed one of the 20 or so figures). So my perception of the whiteness may be influenced by that, too.

Why do children color the sun yellow? That's what color adults tell them the sun is, and white on a white paper doesn't show up well. (Notice, please, that children often draw people with purple or other unusual colored crayons).

Just my nickle's worth.

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John B. Sandlin