Pleiades shows Tanbark sails (brick red or maroon). I think by the time Papillon was sold she had a full suit of tanbark sails, but the few times I saw her in person they were white. Two trips around the world, and at least 6 round trips to Europe, I'm sure she needed new sails at some point.
White cotton canvas sails were prone to mold, which lead to rot, so sails were soaked in Tannis from tree bark, which was also used in "tanning" leather. This made the cloth mold resistant and turned it that red-brown color. Flax sails were naturally more mold resistant, but always a grayish color.
Anyway, yes, working boats with tanbark sails would be a pretty common sight, including pinks. Modern sailmakers offer Tanbark colored Dacron sails so folks that want to hark back to a wrokboat heritage, or just want something other than white sails.