Rainbow Colours Name in Order, VIBGYOR Meaning

Rainbow Colours

Rainbow Colours: Every one of us, right from kids to teenagers as well as adults enjoy watching the beautiful sight of the rainbow after rain. Rainbow is considered nature's Art that amuses the minds of people who enjoy and appreciate the mother of nature. Have you ever noticed that a rainbow comes in sunlight after a slight shower? A rainbow is a multicoloured arc that is made by a strike of sunlight on rain droplets. A rainbow is the result of refraction, dispersion, and reflection. It is formed in front of the viewer, as the sunlight strikes the rain droplets at a precise angle resulting in the formation of an arc that consists of seven different rainbow colours. There are 7 colours in a rainbow. The 7 colours of the rainbow are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. The different rainbow colours that appear are due to different wavelengths of light at different angles.

Origin of Word ‘Rainbow’- The word rainbow is derived from the Old English word ‘renboga’ in which ‘Ren’ means Rain and ‘Boga’ means arched or bent.

Why Rainbow Colours are so Mesmerising?

Rainbow Colours are a special and attractive scenario of nature. It represents symbols of better things after violent rain and storms leading the spirit high. It is the beauty of the rainbow that makes it more special. It symbolizes hope, fortunes, inspiration, promise, and wishes to come true. Seven Rainbow colours have a soothing effect.

Who discovered Rainbow?

In 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle deeply analyzed the concept of rainbows and the spread of colours. His ideas were picked up by Roman philosopher Seneca which was explained in his book, Naturales Quaestiones around 65 AD. The concept and phenomenon behind rainbow formation were clearly explained by Isaac Newton who proved that white light is made up of a spectrum of colours by splitting light with a prism. His discovery along with the concepts of others before him finally explained the theory and phenomenon of the rainbow. 

7 Colours of Rainbow

A rainbow consists of seven different colours consisting of seven different wavelengths. It is seen as ROYGBIV i.e. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. But the standard trick to remember the rainbow Colours is VIBGYOR.

VIBGYOR stands for- 

1. Violet
2. Indigo
3. Blue
4. Green
5. Yellow
6. Orange
7. Red

Meaning of Seven Colors of Rainbow

Each and every colour in the Rainbow has a unique meaning and symbolises different feelings or situations in our lives. Let us now look into what these colours portray.

Red

Red denotes the colour of love, compassion, affection and warmth. The colour of blood is red, which symbolises the importance of life and its vitality.

Orange

The bright, vibrant and energetic colour is orange which denotes joy and creativity. Orange symbolises the brightness and warmth of the sun.

Yellow

Yellow is a dazzling and cheerful colour, which symbolizes positivity and joy. It also denotes knowledge and wisdom.

Green 

Green represents the color associated with Nature's greenery, environment and scenic beauty.  It also symbolize a person's growth, renewal, harmony and peace in one's life.

Blue

The soothing and calming colour of the sky and the sea is blue which is a very pleasant colour. It denotes hope, trust, loyalty and stability.

Indigo

A deep, rich and intense colour of the rainbow is Indigo which often denotes spiritual things and intuition. Indigo symbolise the mystery and depth of some events.

Violet

Violet is a pleasing, subtle colour that denotes creativity and imagination. It symbolises spirituality and royalty.

VIBGYOR Wavelength & Frequency

Here, VIBGYOR means Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. Wavelength is the distance between two identical points (Adjacent crests or adjacent troughs). Frequency is the number of waves that pass a fixed place in a given amount of time. The chart below shows the frequency and wavelength of the rainbow’s seven different colours-        

Cause of Rainbow Formation

A rainbow is caused by sunlight and water droplets through the process of dispersion, reflection, and refraction. As the sunlight reaches the top of the water droplets at first, there is refraction, then it is followed by dispersion of lights into seven different colours having different wavelengths. Violet is the colour that is most deviated and red is the less deviated colour. Reaching the other side of the water droplet each colour is refracted back into the droplets because of complete internal reflection. Every colour is refracted again into the air.

Facts about Rainbow Colors

1. A Rainbow is formed through a phenomenon called the dispersion of light, in which when white light passes through a prism it is bent or refracted into seven colours spread out into a spectrum.
2. Likewise instead of a prism, if sunlight passes through raindrops, it bends to different angles and the seven colours are spread out opposite to the sun in the sky.
3. The seven colours in the rainbow are Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red commonly called as VIBGYOR. Among seven, Red has the longest wavelength hence it is spread at last, whereas Violet has the shortest wavelength that is spread at last.
4. A rainbow occurs as a circular band of colours spread in the sky due to the principle of refraction and reflection of sunlight in raindrops.
5. At times, the secondary rainbow is produced by light which has reflected twice inside raindrops. The secondary rainbow occurs at an arc of 51 degrees around the shadow of your head (the anti-solar point).