The disclosure relates to a benzopyrylium dye of the formula (I),in which R200, R201, R202, R203, R204, R205, R206, R207 and R208 independently of one another are each
hydrogen, C1 to C16
alkyl, C4 to C7 cycloalkyl, C7 to C16 aralkyl, C6 to C10 (het)
aryl, hydroxyl, C1 to C6 alkoxy, or dialkylamino, the dialkylamino being selected from the group consisting of diethylamino, dimethylamino, diisopropylamino, a six-membered saturated ring attached via the N of the amino group, which may additionally contain an N or O and may be substituted by nonionic arbitrary radicals, or a combination of at least two thereof, and / or R200 with R201 or R201 with R202 or R202 with R203 and / or R205 with R206 and / or R206 with R207 each independently of one another form a —CH═CH—CH═CH— bridge, and A is a —CH2— or a —CH2—CH2— bridge, where the anion Ann− has a molecular weight of ≥200 g / mol and does not contain a
halogen atom.