After the biblical Flood, God placed a rainbow in the sky as the sign of the covenant with Noah.
Genesis 9:12–17 describes the rainbow as a visible reminder of God’s covenant with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. The covenant promises that a flood will not again destroy all life on Earth in the same way. The rainbow therefore functions as a sign of remembrance and promise within the narrative.
The passage does not present the rainbow as the cause of weather or as a prediction of a particular future storm. It gives the natural phenomenon a theological meaning in the story. The covenant includes animals as well as humans, a detail sometimes left out in simplified retellings.
The biblical text uses the Hebrew word commonly translated as “bow,” which can also evoke a weapon. Many English translations render it “rainbow,” making the sky-based sign explicit. The account is distinct from later religious and cultural uses of the rainbow as a symbol.