A
rainbow is an
optical phenomenon that can occur under certain
meteorological conditions. It is caused by
refraction,
internal reflection and
dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous
spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular
arc. Although a rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours, it is traditionally assigned a discrete sequence, with
red,
orange,
yellow,
green,
blue,
indigo and
violet as the most common list. The rainbow inspired the
rainbow flag, a symbol of
LGBT pride and
Pride Month. This portion of a rainbow, appearing to rise from a lakeside forest, was photographed in 2005 in
Jasper National Park in
Alberta, Canada.
Photograph credit: Wing-Chi Poon