The Colors Of The Rainbow

The rainbow is one of the most beautiful yet fleeting wonders of nature. The rainbow is made up of seven  brilliant colors that appear in this order, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. If a second rainbow is visible, the colors will be in reverse.


It takes three things to occur to be able to see the seven colors of the rainbow. The first thing is that the sun has to be shining. The second thing is that the sun must be behind you, and lastly, there must be drops of water in the air in front of you. The sunlight shines into the droplets of water that act as tiny prisms that bend or "refract" the light and separate it into the seven brilliant colors..


Each  water droplet reflects only one color of light, so there has to be a lot water drops to make a full rainbow. The brightest rainbows appear when the water drops are large, and usually after a rain shower.

Pictures, Quotes, Sayings and Status Updates

When You See A Rainbow

When you see a rainbow, You look to see where it begins and where it ends.  We are all familiar with the “pot of gold” that we heard about since we were just children. 

The legend dates back to Old Europe, and the Irish will tell you "fairies put a pot of gold at the end of each rainbow with leprechauns to guard them."  It's folklore and  has become  the symbol of St. Patrick's Day. 

Irish culture and folklore appreciates and recognizes the value of gold and the lure of the precious yellow metal.  Of course, few of us will find a literal pot of gold during our lifetime, but many people will have extra bits of scrap gold and other precious metals around their homes and businesses.  The best way to reap the benefits and gain the Luck of the Irish at any time during the year is to turn in your scrap precious metals for remelting and then recirculate that value into your business and the economy.  It takes any "luck" out of the equation in your success because you're reaping the benefits of your own hard work.

No Pot Of Gold

So legend says that at the end of a rainbow  there sits a leprechaun, hammering away on a shoe, and that he will tell the where there is  of a pot of gold. 

It's a good thing that it's only legend, because otherwise  the magical little imp at the end of this rainbow would have found himself 

squashed by a semi truck on a busy freeway, because that is where this particular rainbow ended. 

Many of us have seen a rainbow, but few have been lucky enough to see where it actually ends.

Even fewer have caught the moment on camera like this guy from California did.

                                                                                  Needless to say, "no pot of gold."                               

What Makes a Double Rainbow?

Occasionally, we see two rainbows at the same time, known as a double rainbow. Wonder what causes this? Well, following  the path of a ray of sunlight as it enters and is then reflected inside of the raindrop provides some answers to that very question.

Not all of the energy of the ray of sunlight escapes the raindrop after it is reflected one time. Actually, a part of the ray is reflected again and travels  inside the raindrop to emerge..

 Normal rainbows are called primary rainbows and are produced by one internal reflection. The double rainbow comes from two internal reflections, the sun rays then exit the drop at a angle of 50° instead of the 42° angle of the primary rainbow.

It is possible for light to be reflected more than twice within a raindrop, and one can calculate where the higher order rainbows might be seen; but these are never seen in normal circumstances.

I Once Followed A Rainbow

I once followed a rainbow from beginning to end.
 I followed it easily, over the bend.

No pot of gold, no leprechaun,
It was a path not many had traveled  upon.  

Colors of orange, pink and blue,
A wonderful journey that led me to you. 

I once followed a rainbow, from beginning to end,
A colorful journey, and I would do it again.   

Author~ Sonyia jo

Quotes About Rainbows

1. “Everyone wants happiness, 
No one wants pain,
But you can't have a rainbow,
Without a little rain."~ Unknown Author

2. "Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow." ~ Author Douglas Pagels

3. " Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud" ~ Author Unknown

4. "Love was a feeling completely bound up with color, like thousands of rainbows superimposed
one on top of the other."~ Paulo Coelho

5. "May the warm winds of heaven blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there.
May your mocassins make happy tracks in many snows,
and may the rainbow always touch your shoulder."
~ American Indian Cherokee Blessing

6. "You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down."
~ Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977)

7. "I've always taken 'The Wizard of Oz' very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I've spent my entire life trying to get over it. " ~ Judy Garland

8.  "And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. " ~Gilbert K. Chesterton 

9.  "upon the rainbow is the answer to our never ending story"... ~L imahl, "The Neverending Story Theme"

10.  "If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy and colorful and lively." ~ Mel Brook

Romantic Flowers

What Causes Rainbows

Isaac Newton first analysed the details of rainbow formation in 1665.

 A rainbow happens when raindrops and sunshine cross paths. Sunlight has many colors, that add together to make white illumination. Then sunlight enters water drops, it reflects off inside surfaces and passes through the droplets, the light then separates into components of colors, similar to the effect of a glass prism. Falling water drops actually flash colors to the observer for just a moment, before another drop takes its place.


 “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of a covenant between me and the earth… Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” (Genesis 9:13,15).