What was the first covenant sign associated with Noah’s Ark in Genesis?

The rainbow is the covenant sign associated with Noah’s Ark in Genesis.

After Noah leaves the Ark, Genesis 9 describes God’s covenant not to send another all-destroying flood. The rainbow in the clouds is given as the visible sign of that promise, making it the covenant marker rather than merely a detail of the voyage.

The olive leaf has a different role earlier in the story. It is brought by the dove and tells Noah that the floodwaters have receded enough for vegetation to be found. The leaf is therefore a report about conditions outside the Ark, while the rainbow is the later covenant sign.

This distinction explains a common mix-up in retellings. Both images are strongly associated with Noah, but Genesis assigns them different narrative functions and places them at different points in the sequence.