According to the Book of Genesis, God placed a rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the covenant after the Flood.
Genesis 9:12–17 presents the rainbow as a visible reminder of God’s promise never again to destroy all flesh with a flood. The covenant is made with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature, so its stated scope extends beyond humanity.
The passage does not describe the rainbow as a new physical phenomenon created for the first time. Instead, it assigns the natural sign a covenant meaning within the story. The rainbow appears “in the cloud,” linking it directly to the storm and the waters.
This covenant comes after Noah leaves the Ark and builds an altar. A common mix-up is to treat the rainbow as the Ark’s immediate landing signal; in Genesis, it belongs to the later covenant ceremony and its promise about future floods.