Seven Colors of the Rainbow

Posted on September 12, 2024 by

15 Comments

Did you know there are seven colors in the rainbow? I guess I did, though I forgot the specifics until I began to look for sevens, for #SevenforSeptember.

We don’t get many rainbows here in the Great Northwest though we do get lots of rain. So when we see them, they’re special, like the one I saw at Coulon Park (below), where most of the colors can be clearly seen, even as they meld into one another.

Red – Orange – Yellow – Green – Blue – Indigo – Violet

They always appear in that order and ROYGBIV may help you (and me) remember them.

The gallery of seven squares below includes all the colors of the rainbow, from red to violet. Yes, that’s a lavender plant, but looks more like violet to me. And indigo? Well, use your imagination. Some think it doesn’t belong in the list of seven rainbow colors at all.

Who came up with the list anyway?

Turns out, it was Isaac Newton, back in the 1660’s who began a series of experiments with sunlight and prisms and demonstrated that clear white light was composed of seven visible colors.

According to Wikipedia, “Newton, who admitted his eyes were not very critical in distinguishing colours, originally divided the spectrum into five main colours: red, yellow, green, blue and violet.  Later he included orange and indigo, giving seven main colours by analogy to the number of notes in a musical scale.”

But enough of that. I’ll close with another rainbow, from our first trip to Hawaii in 2007, and a verse.

“I will set My bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.”

Genesis 9:13

~ Susanne

Category: Nature, PhotographyTags: , , , , , ,

15 Comments on “Seven Colors of the Rainbow”

  2. Great rainbow capture in both photos. They both look very close. Close enough to rush for the pot of gold, possibly.

  4. Nice post and examples.
    Maybe blue indigo isn’t much as a rainbow addition, but it is the basis for a great song by Duke Ellington. As for orange, well, it certainly doesn’t make it as a color of a man’s hair.

  7. Beautiful rainbows, and I love the idea of finding a flower to match each colour! Over here children are taught (or at least were in my day!) this mnemonic to help them remember the colours and order: Richard Of York Gained Battle In Vain

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