In Genesis, God gave Noah a rainbow as the sign of the covenant made after the Flood.
Genesis 9 describes God’s covenant with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. The rainbow in the clouds is presented as the visible sign that God would not again destroy all life with a flood. The promise extends beyond Noah’s household to the earth and its animals.
The rainbow is therefore distinct from the dove’s olive leaf. The olive leaf appears earlier as evidence that the waters were receding, while the rainbow appears after Noah leaves the ark and builds an altar. These two symbols are often combined in popular art but have different places in the Genesis narrative.
Genesis presents the covenant as universal in scope, not merely a private agreement with Noah. The passage also links the rainbow with remembering the covenant whenever clouds appear over the earth, making it one of the Bible’s most recognizable covenant symbols.