God placed a rainbow in the sky as the covenant after Noah’s Flood. In Genesis 9, the rainbow is presented as a sign of the promise that a flood would not again destroy all life on earth.
The covenant is made not only with Noah and his descendants but also with every living creature. The rainbow therefore functions as a universal sign within the story, linking humanity, animals, and the natural world.
Genesis describes the rainbow appearing in the cloud and says that God will remember the covenant when it is seen. This language gives the phenomenon a religious meaning beyond its physical appearance after rain.
Rainbow symbolism later became common in art, literature, and religious teaching. The biblical account should not be confused with explanations of how rainbows form through refraction, reflection, and dispersion of sunlight in water droplets; the story gives the rainbow theological significance.