Has the Rainbow been rescued from mermaids and wokies by children showing support for the NHS?

Well not disingenuous, many people had no idea that mermaids existed or used the rainbow. Not everyone is mumsnet educated you know.

I knew it from Sunday school, others from the Wizard of Oz, some from zippy, bungle and george.

I think people are being disingenuous sayings its associated with lots of different things. The rainbow was completely annexed by those pursuing sexual politics in a completely in-yer-face liberal-intolerant way; nothing like the past. It makes me cringe to see a beautiful and universal symbol being crassly and cynically used in this way.

As far as I’m aware Mermaids just looked to use the mermaid symbol (and even that seems to have been watered down recently with their new branding) - I don’t think they ever looked to “claim” it? It’s generally used as a symbol for the wider LGBT community (predating Mermaids) and seen everywhere during Pride, with many organisations and brands employing it.

It didn't need rescuing. Rainbows in all their multiple glory have different meanings to different groups/people.

(I'd forgotten Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior grin)

Yeah, when I joined Greenpeace as a teenager, I was sent a rainbow window sticker in the joining pack. I never actually stuck it anywhere, I kept it reverently in my special treasures box.

Was having a conversation about this recently!

It's a bit like the Union Jack isn't it? A national flag that was taken by the skinheads and BNP to be theirs, to the extent few others would use it because of the association it now had in many people's minds. Then somehow, it become fashionable. It was on the roof of new Minis and on shoulder bags, bedding, rugs, shoes - you name it, 'fashion' took it over and totally diluted the baggage it had picked up.

I do wonder if it will be the same with rainbows. It will be associated with multiple things again (I'd forgotten Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ). I think that's a good thing.

I'm really pleased that rainbows now mean hope again not a sign someone has had woke brainwashing.

Rainbows say Greenpeace and Save the Whale to me.

(I had to try to explain to my middle one why a bubble makes a rainbow shadow )

Physics lessons...

Rainbows are associated with lots of things:
Christians
LGBT
NHS
Wizard of Oz
Pots of gold.
Leprechauns.

Generally a rainbow is a pretty thing that brings joy.

Well I am glad I did sunday school, all my life I thought God gave us the rainbow as a sign of hope, just checked and yep he did it first.

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

Daten, are you aware your username is just one letter different from one of FWR’s most esteemed contributors, or is it just an extraordinary coincidence?

Datun asked Daten to namechange yesterday & they agreed, so hopefully they’ll get round to it soon.

There has been a quite a few new posters on FWR using regular names but changing one letter.

Bit childish.

Yes, its lovely to see de politicised rainbows back being what they were in the first place.

🌈 ☘️Excuse me but I think you'll find that leprechauns own the rainbow ☘️🌈

This has also made me realise that the lgbt/pride rainbows are rarely actual rainbows in a semicircular(ish) shape - they are often a straight block or flag of the rainbow spectrum of colours. Ifs Beerbohm nice to see rainbows actually mean the arched rainbows, maybe with fluffy clouds again!

I was one of the people who recoiled are the idea of seeing the rainbow everywhere, as it had well and truly been appropriated. (Am obviously ignoring the bear of little thought that translates this as an invite to paedos knocking one your door ). However, I was thinking exactly the same as the op yesterday - this might actually be a way to wrest control of the imagery back. So I’ve gone from not wanting it to be used, to wanting to display one myself, and to hope that it is used even more ubiquitously with a far wider context to make absolutely crystal clear that the rainbow can’t be commandeered by the woke any more.

I'm in agreement with you OP. I really didn't like the way gender and other political activists "took over" the rainbow and made it theirs. It was annoying for this poster anyway to see it everywhere - to see it on M&S bags, police uniforms, waving as flags outside churches, and so forth.

Rainbows are associated with beauty and universal human hope and joy. Should never have been hijacked for "gender wars" purposes. I truly hope it goes back to its former meanings.

Like you OP I have started to roll my eyes at rainbows, I'm sick of the corporate rainbows and emojis and it generally becoming a status of some kind. I became suspicious and I had negative reaction to rainbows when I saw them.

No, no one 'owns' rainbows but I saw it as a symbol that was co-opted and it lost its positive meaning for me. Seeing children's drawings around my village has shifted my view slightly and it now is more associated with hope for me, so you're not wrong, I get your point.

These rainbows I can live with and enjoy, rainbows that support the gender ideology and destruction of the mental (and physical, sexual) health of children I will never tolerate.

MissHoskins

There has been a quite a few new posters on FWR using regular names but changing one letter.

🙄

@ChesterBelloc are you and your most awful of mother's actually suggesting that Mermaid's rainbow is not the most inclusivist rainbow in the whole wide LGBTQ universe?

Shame on the pair if you.

Poor odd Violet. She's had a hard life, bless her. Just imagine how you'd feel if all that people associated you with was little purple weird tasting sweets!!?

#IbelieveinViolet

I just noticed the Daten issue too!

@Daten, are you aware your username is just one letter different from one of FWR’s most esteemed contributors, or is it just an extraordinary coincidence?

People could quite easily miss that minor difference and think it was actually Datun posting, when in fact it’s you. And I’m quite sure you wouldn’t want that, now, would you?

My mother pointed out that the LGBTQetc rainbow flag actually only uses 6 of the 7 colours of the rainbow, leaving out violet, I believe. So there is already a (subtle) way to differentiate.

Oh! I thought it was me in the wrong glasses. I'll triple check spellings for a while, just in case...