In the biblical Noah’s Ark narrative, God sets a rainbow as the sign of the covenant with Noah. Genesis 9:13 says that God places the bow in the clouds as a reminder of the promise not to destroy the earth by another flood.
The covenant follows Noah’s emergence from the ark and the offering he makes after the waters recede. It is presented as a promise involving not only Noah and his descendants but also every living creature associated with the flood narrative.
The rainbow’s role in Genesis is therefore symbolic and theological, not merely meteorological. The text connects a visible natural phenomenon with a universal promise. It also explains why the bow appears in the clouds as a reminder of the covenant.
A common mix-up is to name the dove, because the dove is another important bird in the story. The dove tests whether the waters have receded, but the rainbow is the covenant sign given afterward.