Rainbow Meaning — Symbolism, Origins & Significance
Quick answer
The rainbow symbolises hope, promise, and brighter days after the storm, the bridge between earth and heaven, and divine promise and covenant (the biblical rainbow after the flood). It also represents good fortune, the elusive and magical, and — in the modern world — pride, diversity, and inclusion.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Universal; the goddess Iris (Greek), the bridge Bifröst (Norse), God's covenant after the flood (biblical) |
| Primary meaning | Hope & promise after the storm; the bridge between earth & heaven; divine covenant; pride & diversity |
| Common tattoo placement | Forearm, wrist, behind the ear, shoulder, ribs (arc form) |
| Major modern meaning | The rainbow flag — LGBTQ+ pride, diversity & inclusion |
| Related symbols | Dove, sun, star |
The rainbow is one of nature's most beautiful and joyful sights, and across cultures it has been a symbol of hope, promise, and the bridge between heaven and earth — the radiant arc of colour that appears after the storm, spanning the sky, linking the worlds, and signalling that the rain has passed and brighter things are coming. Appearing as if by magic when sunlight meets rain, fleeting and ungraspable yet breathtakingly beautiful, the rainbow has carried meanings of hope and renewal, of divine promise and covenant, of the bridge between earth and the heavens, of good fortune and the unattainable, and — in the modern world — of pride, diversity, and inclusion.
What gives the rainbow its symbolism is its nature: it appears after the storm and the rain, a thing of beauty following darkness; it spans the sky in a great arc, seeming to bridge the heavens and the earth or two distant places; it is made of beautiful, harmonious bands of colour; and it is fleeting, ungraspable, and seemingly magical, vanishing as it came. This made the rainbow a symbol of hope, promise, and brighter days after the storm, of divine promise, covenant, and the connection between the divine and the human, of the bridge between earth and heaven or between worlds, of good fortune, magic, and the elusive or unattainable, and of harmony, diversity, and the beauty of many colours united. This page traces the rainbow across the traditions where it is most meaningful — Greek, where it is the goddess Iris and the messenger's path; Norse, where it is the bridge Bifrost; and the biblical and Christian tradition, where it is God's covenant after the flood — and explores its meaning as a symbol and a tattoo.
What the Rainbow Represents
The rainbow's central meaning is hope and promise — the hope of brighter days after the storm. Because the rainbow appears after the rain has passed, when the sun breaks through following the storm, it became the great natural symbol of hope after hardship, of the promise that the storm has passed and better times are coming, of light and beauty following darkness, and of optimism and renewal. The rainbow after the storm is the very image of hope returning, of the assurance that difficulty passes and brightness follows — one of the most hopeful and uplifting of all symbols.
The rainbow is profoundly a symbol of the bridge between earth and heaven, and between worlds. Spanning the sky in a great arc, seeming to connect the earth and the heavens or to span between two distant places, the rainbow became the symbol of the bridge between the human and the divine, between earth and heaven, between the worlds — the radiant pathway or bridge linking the mortal and the divine realms (as in the Norse Bifrost and the Greek path of Iris). The rainbow connects what is separated, bridging earth and sky.
Closely tied to this is the rainbow as a symbol of divine promise and covenant. In the biblical tradition above all, the rainbow is the sign of God's covenant with humanity after the flood — God's promise never again to destroy the earth by flood — making the rainbow the great symbol of divine promise, covenant, mercy, reconciliation between the divine and the human, and the faithfulness of God's word. The rainbow is the sign in the sky of a sacred promise.
The rainbow carries strong associations with good fortune, magic, and the elusive or unattainable. The rainbow is fleeting, beautiful, and ungraspable — it cannot be reached or caught, retreating as one approaches — and it became a symbol of good fortune (the proverbial 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow'), of magic and wonder, and of the elusive, the unattainable, the dream just out of reach, and the pursuit of something beautiful but ungraspable ('chasing rainbows'). The rainbow is magical, lucky, and forever just beyond grasp.
The rainbow is also a symbol of harmony, diversity, and the beauty of many colours united, and in the modern world this has taken on a major and specific meaning: the rainbow flag is the worldwide symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, diversity, and inclusion, the many colours of the rainbow representing the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and, more broadly, pride, acceptance, equality, and the celebration of diversity — one of the most significant and widely recognised meanings of the rainbow in the contemporary world. The rainbow also broadly symbolises diversity, inclusion, harmony, and unity in difference (the many colours forming one beautiful whole), and is used as a symbol of children, of peace, and of various causes.
Underlying all of these is the rainbow's quality as the beautiful, fleeting, radiant arc that appears after the storm — hope and promise, the bridge between earth and heaven, divine covenant and promise, good fortune and the elusive and magical, and harmony, diversity, and pride — making it one of the most joyful, hopeful, and meaningful of all symbols.
Historical Origins
The rainbow has been an object of wonder and a symbol of meaning across cultures since ancient times, the breathtaking, magical, and fleeting appearance of the rainbow — a great arc of colour spanning the sky after the rain — inviting interpretation as a sign, a bridge, a path, a promise, or a manifestation of the divine. Appearing as if by magic when sunlight meets the rain, beautiful and ungraspable, the rainbow naturally seemed a thing of wonder and significance to people across the world.
In many cultures, the rainbow was understood as a bridge or path connecting the earth and the heavens or the worlds. In Norse mythology, the rainbow is Bifröst, the burning, shimmering bridge connecting Midgard (the world of humans) to Asgard (the realm of the gods), guarded by the watchman god Heimdall — the rainbow as the bridge between the mortal and the divine realms. In Greek mythology, the rainbow was associated with the goddess Iris, the personification of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods (especially of Hera), who travelled between the heavens, the earth, and the underworld along the rainbow, carrying the messages of the gods — the rainbow as the path and the messenger between the divine and the human. The idea of the rainbow as a bridge or path between worlds appears in many other cultures as well (a bridge for souls, a path of the gods or spirits).
In the biblical tradition, the rainbow gained its most famous meaning as the sign of God's covenant with humanity after the flood: in the Book of Genesis, after the great flood, God sets the rainbow in the clouds as the sign of his covenant and promise never again to destroy all life on earth by a flood — the rainbow becoming the enduring symbol of divine promise, covenant, mercy, and the reconciliation and renewed relationship between God and humanity, a sign of hope and God's faithfulness appearing in the sky after the rain. This made the rainbow, in Judeo-Christian tradition, a sacred sign of promise, covenant, and hope.
The rainbow carried associations across cultures of good fortune, magic, and wonder; of the elusive and the unattainable (the rainbow that cannot be reached, the 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow' of Irish and other folklore, guarded by a leprechaun); of the divine, the heavenly, and signs from the gods; and of hope, promise, and renewal after the storm. The rainbow appears in the myths, folklore, and symbolism of cultures around the world — sometimes auspicious, sometimes a serpent (the Rainbow Serpent of Australian Aboriginal tradition, a powerful creator-being), sometimes a bridge, path, or sign.
In the modern world, the rainbow has taken on major new meanings. Most significantly, the rainbow flag, created by Gilbert Baker in 1978, became the worldwide symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, diversity, and inclusion — the rainbow's many colours representing the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and the values of pride, acceptance, equality, and the celebration of diversity — one of the most widely recognised and important symbols in the contemporary world. The rainbow is also widely used as a general symbol of diversity, inclusion, harmony, peace, hope, and children, and (in recent times) of hope and solidarity in difficult times. From its ancient roles as the bridge between worlds, the messenger's path, and the sign of divine promise, to its modern meanings of pride, diversity, and hope, the rainbow entered the contemporary imagination as one of the most joyful, hopeful, and meaningful of all symbols, and remains popular and significant in art, activism, and tattooing.
Cultural Variations
Greek
In ancient Greece the rainbow was personified and divinised as the goddess Iris, who was both the personification of the rainbow itself and a messenger of the gods, travelling between the realms along the rainbow as her path — making the rainbow a divine messenger and a bridge or road between the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. Iris was a goddess of the rainbow and a swift messenger of the gods, especially of Hera, the queen of the gods; depicted often with wings (and sometimes shown as the rainbow itself or travelling upon it), she carried the messages and commands of the gods between Olympus and the mortal world, and even down to the underworld, moving swiftly along the rainbow that linked the heavens and the earth. The rainbow was thus, in Greek thought, the path and the manifestation of this messenger-goddess, the bridge and road connecting the divine realm of the gods with the world of mortals (and the underworld) — a link between the heavens and the earth along which the messages of the gods travelled. Iris was also associated with the sea and sky (the rainbow joining them), with communication between the divine and human, and with the fulfilling of the gods' will. The rainbow as Iris thus carried the meanings of a divine messenger and the communication between gods and mortals, a bridge and path connecting the heavens, the earth, and the underworld, and the beautiful, swift manifestation of the goddess linking the divine and human worlds. The Greek rainbow was the radiant road of the messenger-goddess, the shining link between the realms — a conception of the rainbow as the connector between the divine and the human, and the path of the gods' messages, that fits the broader symbolism of the rainbow as the bridge between earth and heaven.
Norse
In Norse mythology the rainbow is Bifröst, the shimmering, burning rainbow bridge that connects Midgard (the world of humans) to Asgard (the realm of the gods) — one of the most striking conceptions of the rainbow as a bridge between the mortal and the divine realms. Bifröst (also called Bilröst) is the great bridge that spans between the world of humans and the world of the gods, described as a rainbow, brilliantly coloured and burning with fire (the red in the rainbow being its flames), strong and yet, like the rainbow, beautiful and seemingly ethereal. The bridge is guarded by the god Heimdall, the ever-watchful watchman of the gods, who possesses extraordinarily keen senses (he can see for vast distances and hear the grass growing) and stands guard at Bifröst, ready to sound his great horn, the Gjallarhorn, to warn the gods of danger and to summon them at the onset of Ragnarök, the end of the world. The rainbow bridge is the road by which the gods travel between Asgard and the other worlds, and it is destined to play a part in the end of days: at Ragnarök, the fire giants (the sons of Muspell), led by Surtr, will ride across Bifröst to attack the gods, and the rainbow bridge will break and collapse under their weight — its destruction one of the events of the world's end. Bifröst thus carried the meanings of the bridge between the human and the divine realms (Midgard and Asgard), the road of the gods connecting the worlds, the guarded threshold between the mortal and the divine (watched by Heimdall), and the fragile, beautiful link destined to break at the end of the world. The Norse rainbow as Bifröst is one of the most vivid and beloved conceptions of the rainbow as a bridge — the burning, shimmering rainbow road connecting earth and the realm of the gods, guarded against the forces of chaos, embodying the rainbow's universal symbolism of the bridge between earth and heaven, the mortal and the divine.
Biblical & Christian
In the biblical and Christian tradition the rainbow gained its most famous and enduring meaning as the sign of God's covenant with humanity after the great flood — the symbol of divine promise, mercy, hope, and the faithfulness of God's word. The foundational story is found in the Book of Genesis: after the great flood that God sent to cleanse a corrupted world, sparing only Noah, his family, and the animals in the ark, the waters receded and Noah and the living creatures emerged onto a renewed earth. God then made a covenant — a sacred, binding promise — with Noah and with all living things: never again would he destroy all life on earth by a flood. And as the sign and seal of this covenant, God set the rainbow in the clouds, declaring that when the rainbow appears in the sky after the rain, it would be a reminder of his everlasting promise, a sign of the covenant between God and the earth. The rainbow thus became, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the great symbol of God's covenant and promise, of divine mercy and faithfulness (God keeping his word), of reconciliation and the renewed relationship between God and humanity after judgment, and of hope — the rainbow appearing after the storm and the rain as the reassuring sign in the sky of God's promise and mercy, that the destruction has passed and grace and the faithfulness of God endure. The rainbow as the sign of God's covenant is one of the most beloved and hopeful images of the Bible, the radiant arc that follows the storm as a token of divine promise and mercy. The rainbow also appears elsewhere in scripture in visions of the divine glory and the throne of God (in Ezekiel and Revelation, a rainbow surrounds the throne or the divine presence), associating it with the glory, beauty, and presence of God. The biblical and Christian rainbow thus carried the supreme meanings of God's covenant and promise (the sign after the flood), divine mercy, faithfulness, and reconciliation, hope after the storm, and the glory and presence of God — the rainbow as the sacred sign of divine promise, mercy, and hope, appearing in the sky as the token of God's faithful word.
The Rainbow as a Tattoo
The rainbow is a joyful and meaningful tattoo, chosen for its beauty and its uplifting symbolism of hope, promise, and brighter days, and — very significantly in the modern world — as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride and diversity. People choose rainbow tattoos to represent hope and brighter days after the storm (coming through hardship to better times), promise and faith (the divine covenant, God's promise), the bridge between worlds or the connection between people, LGBTQ+ pride, identity, diversity, and inclusion, the memory of a loved one (a rainbow after the storm of loss, a sign of hope or of the departed), good fortune and magic, or simply joy, colour, and optimism. It is one of the most hopeful and positive of all symbols.
Read the full Rainbow tattoo guide →Related Symbols
Rainbow — FAQ
- What does the rainbow symbolise?
- Hope, promise, and brighter days after the storm, the bridge between earth and heaven, and divine promise and covenant (the biblical rainbow after the flood). It also represents good fortune, the elusive and magical, and — in the modern world — pride, diversity, and inclusion.
- Why is the rainbow a symbol of hope?
- Because it appears after the rain and the storm, when the sun breaks through — the very image of beauty and light following darkness, and the promise that hardship passes and brighter days come. It's one of the most hopeful and uplifting of all symbols.
- What does the rainbow mean in the Bible?
- It is the sign of God's covenant with humanity after the flood — God's promise never again to destroy the earth by flood. The rainbow became the symbol of divine promise, mercy, faithfulness, reconciliation, and hope, appearing after the rain.
- What is Bifröst?
- In Norse myth, the shimmering, burning rainbow bridge connecting Midgard (the human world) to Asgard (the realm of the gods), guarded by the watchman Heimdall. It's destined to break at Ragnarök — one of the most vivid rainbow-as-bridge myths.
- What does a rainbow tattoo mean?
- Usually hope and brighter days after the storm, LGBTQ+ pride and diversity (the rainbow flag), divine promise and faith (the biblical rainbow), or remembrance and hope after loss (such as a 'rainbow baby'). It's one of the most joyful, hopeful symbols.