The rainbow symbol

[ToTheLetter01]

I've noticed two instances recently where the rainbow symbol have been referred to as a symbol of the first lockdown.
The first was my DS son in the newsletter about pride week and it referred to it as a symbol of the lockdown and a symbol of hope in lockdown.
The second was on the programme This Morning. They had done a segment on rainbow decor being in now and how it's a symbol for the first lockdown.

Now I know the rainbow symbol has been around a long time and has been used for the LGBTQ community for many years. I find it infuriating that society are trying to take this away and remake it into a different thing because of this pandemic.

I know its not trademarked but why couldn't another symbol be used inside of a marginalised communities symbol. There are so many out there to choose from.

How do other people feel about it?

Rainbows have the following features:

1. Lots of different colours - symbol of diversity, e.g. South Africa used to (still does?) get referred to as the Rainbow Nation
2. Comes our when sun shines after the rain - symbol of hope, especially after time of difficulty/sadness e.g. rainbow babies
3. Generally pretty looking - gets slapped all over "girl" clothes, often paired with unicorns/flowers/etc

No one owns rainbows or the rainbow symbol.

The LGBT "symbol" isn't an actual rainbow though is it? Its 6 different coloured vertical stripes used in various different ways.

This. It's at best a spectrum without the violet.

I do love the picture DJlippy has posted. I will be using that.

@Stealhsquirrelnutkin

I think the new version of the pride flag displays surprisingly honest symbolism.

You have the old rainbow flag, with all the bright vibrant colours happily existing side by side. Then, from the sinister side a spear head invades and starts to spread across and smother them. I love how the white triangle symbolises the core of rich white males behind the new movement, hiding behind the wishy washy pink and blue trans, who in turn are portrayed pushing the black and brown lines/people in front of them, to act as human shields and cannon fodder on the front lines.

It's brilliant. I couldn't have come up with such a perfect rendering of the current situation if I'd spent a year thinking about it.

Wow! Spot-on mind-blowing analysis!!

I'm with Cartman. I hate those things.

Also, it was Isaac Newton who decided rainbows had 7 colours, entirely arbitrarily.

www.nature.com/articles/520436a

1970s rock band anyone?

@Stealhsquirrelnutkin
Fabulous comment!

@DeeJayLippy
Love the additions, very apt!

I too thought of the Nazi invasion of England on the "Dad's Army" opening credits, when I first saw the alphabet soup lot new flag

I thought the rainbow belonged to George and Zippy.

@Wandawomble
Get your twangers out.
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.radiox.co.uk/features/was-there-a-banned-rude-episode-of-rainbow/

Also, it was Isaac Newton who decided rainbows had 7 colours, entirely arbitrarily

Hardly arbitrary. I've done the experiment many times and you can clearly see the 7 colours. Just because it's not always obvious in all natural rainbows doesn't mean he was wrong.

Back when orange wasn't traditionally included there was no word for orange, for example.

Well - I don’t think that went the way the OP wanted.

[quote SpringCrocus]@DeeJayLippy
Love the additions, very apt!

I too thought of the Nazi invasion of England on the "Dad's Army" opening credits, when I first saw the alphabet soup lot new flag[/quote]
Me too

@donquixotedelamancha

Also, it was Isaac Newton who decided rainbows had 7 colours, entirely arbitrarily

Hardly arbitrary. I've done the experiment many times and you can clearly see the 7 colours. Just because it's not always obvious in all natural rainbows doesn't mean he was wrong.

Back when orange wasn't traditionally included there was no word for orange, for example.

Apple fell on his head, he invented orange.

Odd bloke.

It’s not the colours that are arbitrary, it’s the divisions between them. It’s a continuous spectrum, so you could equally well say there were 17 or 71 colours. But Newton had some fairly magical thinking going on and liked the number 7.

Okay, I'm looking at the pictures supplied up thread on a tiny phone screen with possible unreliable colour display.

Can someone tell me whether it's indigo or violet that has been left out of the Pride flag's horizontal stripes?

@WhoNeedsaManOfTheWorld

If you think losing the rainbow is bad what do you think about losing the word woman?

Underrated comment

The first thing I think of when you say rainbows is the youngest section of girlguiding.

Then I remember the things in the sky.

After that I think about LGBT.

If I see rainbows, what I think of friends on the context. In the shape of an actual rainbow, I think of all the rainbows that people painted/displayed as symbols of hope during lockdown. Just rainbow colours worn on clothing/lanyards/flags, that's what I associate with LGBT (mostly LGB actually because when I was growing up the T weren't attached to the end)

Violet

I think we generally just go for a generic purple somewhere between the two rather than specifically indigo (a bluey purple) or violet (a pinky purple).

For several years now, I have shuddered whenever I've seen [a rainbow]. They don't symbolise hope, just oppression, totalitarian thinking and erasure to many women.

I would feel the same way, TedImGoingMad. But I've noticed that the trans rainbow shows only six colours instead of the genuine rainbow's seven. So we still have the real rainbow as a symbol of hope.

You have the old rainbow flag, with all the bright vibrant colours happily existing side by side. Then, from the sinister side a spear head invades and starts to spread across and smother them. I love how the white triangle symbolises the core of rich white males behind the new movement, hiding behind the wishy washy pink and blue trans, who in turn are portrayed pushing the black and brown lines/people in front of them, to act as human shields and cannon fodder on the front lines.

Surely if it originated from the bible thats the true meaning of the rainbow. I think of Gods promise when i see a rainbow in the sky.
The rainbow reassured Noah and his family that a flood on the same scale will never take place again. After the Flood, God made an everlasting promise with Noah, his family, their descendants, and all the living creatures. He promised never again to destroy the earth by a flood. The rainbow was the sign of that promise – a reminder of God’s commitment to the earth.

Indeed, @jessyjo2. From Genesis:

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. ... So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

If you want your own symbol, create one. You can't lay claim to something that occurs naturally, no one owns rainbows they're a natural phenomenon.