Rainbows, a Harbinger of Hope - in Nature, Philately and Numismatics

The world including India, has recently been at the receiving end of the fury of nature. 

COVID 19 has caused innumerable deaths worldwide leading to endless suffering, showing little signs of abating, with the other side of the bell curve yet to be seen in India and many other countries. To add to this mayhem, Delhi NCR (in seismic zone-4) has been hit by a series of ten low to moderate intensity earthquakes over the last one and a half months, indicating the likelihood of a major earthquake of Richter 6 or more intensity in the near future. 

The elements seem to be at war with mankind (for reasons better known to us) - Cyclone Amphan (satellite image above and pronounced as ‘Um-Pun’, name given by Thailand) meaning  ‘sky’, a super cyclonic category 5 tropical storm hit West Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh on May 20, 2020 leaving a trail of destruction of homes, life and livelihood. The recent Cyclone Nisarga (named  by Bangladesh) meaning ‘nature’ and the first storm after 1891 to hit Mumbai, was predicted to cause great damage but thankfully, disaster was averted.

It is interesting to note how cyclones in the Indian Ocean are christened. The practice began in 2000 with a formula agreed upon in 2004. The name had to be neutral in regard to gender, politics, religion and culture, not hurt sentiments or be offensive, and had to be short and easy to pronounce, with a maximum length of eight letters. A list of cyclone names contributed by member countries was released in April, 2020 and the name ‘Gati’ contributed by India will be given to the cyclone occurring after Nisarga. 

Cyclones and hurricanes over the years have wreaked havoc to sailing boats, ships and coastal areas across the world and a number of countries have brought out stamps to remind us of the destruction.

                                                                               
                                                                        
                                                                   

Stamp of Tonga depicting a Sailing Boat in a Storm, Australian Stamp on Hurricane Tracy (1974) and US Stamp on Hurricane Katrina (2005)

Stamp of HMS Calliope which survived the Great Apia (Samoa Island) Hurricane of 1889

In the face of these natural calamities, I will, in today’s Blog, focus on a natural phenomenon, ‘A Double Rainbow’, which I recently witnessed for the first time in my life. It was an exhilarating and ‘AHA’ moment for me, one that made me admire God’s creation in its full glory. 

On May 31, 2020, a Sunday, we were watching some television while it was raining outside. Around 6.30 pm, my daughter Khushi suddenly said ‘The Sun has come out, it is an ideal condition for a rainbow- let’s go and spot it!’ We went to her room and spotted part of a beautiful rainbow and soon realised that it was a Double Rainbow! I realised that the other end of the rainbow appeared to be very close, so we went to the room on the other side where a magnificent sight awaited us, never seen by me before - an end to end double rainbow, clearly visible. I was able to take some beautiful photographs, which I am sharing below.

I shared these photos with some friends, who became ecstatic and wrote back:

‘Such a beautiful gift of Mother Nature ’; ‘Nature at its best is so fascinating’; ‘Very rare and pleasant sight.. wish I could have seen it once ’; ‘A rare and beautiful sight’; ‘You are lucky to witness this celestial display’; ‘Beautiful, good times to come’; ‘A sign of good fortune- we all need it’; ‘ Hope country will come out of this current crisis safely’; ‘Hope it brings good fortune… India needs it desperately right now’; ‘Aacche Din aaane wale hain’; ‘Very fascinating and creates hope’.

The Double Rainbow and the optimism shared by my friends left a deep impression on me, and this has inspired me to go deep into the enigma of rainbows, their meaning and significance as well as their inclusion in Philately and Numismatics over time, on this World Environment Day, 2020. 

What is a Rainbow? How is a ‘Double Rainbow’ formed ? Why does it make people happy ?

A rainbow is a multi-coloured circular arc made by light striking water droplets, directly opposite the Sun. It is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets, resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. In a primary rainbow, the seven colours are always in order of their wavelength, from longest to shortest. The arc, therefore, has red on the outer part, followed by orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet on the inner part. In my childhood days, we were taught a wonderful acronym “VIBGYOR” to remember the sequence of colours in a rainbow. Interestingly, while rainbows are full circles, only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground is visible. Contrary to what one sees, it does not actually exist in a specific spot in the sky. It is an optical illusion!

In a Double Rainbow, a faint secondary rainbow appears above the primary rainbow. Double Rainbows are caused by light being reflected twice inside the raindrop. As a result of the second reflection, the spectrum of the secondary rainbow is reversed: red is on the inner section of the arc, while violet is on the outer.  The term ‘Double Rainbow’ is used when both the primary and secondary rainbows are visible. Theoretically, all rainbows are double rainbows, but since the secondary rainbow is typically fainter than the primary, it may be too weak to spot. Every rainbow is a circle, symbolising continuity and infinity, but usually only its upper half can be seen.

The dark area of unlit sky between the primary and secondary bows is called Alexander’s band, first described in 200 AD. The Greek scholar Aristotle (384-322 BC) was the first to give attention to rainbows.

A Double Rainbow is considered to be a symbol of transformation and is a sign of good fortune in eastern cultures. The first arc represents the material world, and the second arc signifies the spiritual realm. A double rainbow forms due to an optical illusion when sunlight enters a raindrop and creates two internal reflections before the rays exit the droplet. It is also known as the “Eye of the God”. 

It is difficult to photograph the complete semi-circle of a rainbow in one frame. From an aeroplane, one could possibly see a rainbow as a full circle. The sky inside a primary rainbow is brighter than the sky outside the bow. Apart from the rainbows caused by light from the Sun, they can also be caused by light from the moon and are called lunar rainbow or moonbow. They are much dimmer and rarer than solar rainbows.

Rainbows are often portrayed as bridges between people and supernatural beings. In the ancient beliefs of Japan and Gabon, rainbows were the bridges human ancestors took to descend to the earth. In Hindu mythology, a rainbow is an archer’s bow (Indra Dhanush) used by Indra, the God of thunder and war, who shoots arrows of lightning. In Hindu philosophy, the seven colours of the rainbow represent the seven chakras, from the first chakra (red) to the seventh chakra (violet).

In these Covid times, rainbows painted by children have been popping up in windows across the world, brightening the neighbourhood, some with slogans like “We Will Resist”.

Rainbows are a symbol of hope in many cultures and are a promise of better times to come. Judy Garland, who was one of the first icons in support of the LGBTQ+ movement, in the musical ‘Wizard of Oz’ sings the song ‘Over the Rainbow’ where she fantasizes about a place somewhere over the rainbow where ‘dreams come true’ and ‘troubles melt like lemon drops’ and the world is in peace and harmony.

The British Romantic Poet William Wordsworth in his poem ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ also known as ‘The Rainbow’written in 1802 was inspired by nature and describes the joy that he felt when he saw a rainbow and that he had felt this way since childhood -

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die ! …

Stamp of United Kingdom (1991) on the poem ‘The Rainbow’

In Christian culture, a rainbow promises better times to come as in the Book of Genesis (Chapter 9), the occurrence of a rainbow is mentioned in the story of Noah’s Arc as a sign from God that he would never destroy all life on earth with a global flood again. 

Israel in 2008 came up with a series of stamps depicting Noah’s Arc and the rainbow

In Australia, the aboriginal people consider the rainbow as a spirit in the sky, a brightly coloured snake that appears to stop the rain made by their enemies. It is depicted in rock art dating back more than 10,000 years.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1994 described democratic post-apartheid South Africa as a ‘Rainbow Nation’ alluding to its diversity and multi-culturalism, the ‘Rainbow People of God’. President Nelson Mandela called it ‘a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world’. The Flag of South Africa has six different colours and is considered to be a rainbow flag, as is evident from the above stamp.

Many countries have issued stamps featuring the rainbow :

Stamp of Ireland (Eire) identifying the rainbow with Love

Stamp of Germany with a short part of a full rainbow

Stamp of Greece (1935) showing Goddess Iris with a rainbow

Stamp of Great Britain (1981) – a disabled artist painting with foot a rainbow

Stamp of United Nations for peace showing a Dove and a Rainbow

Stamp of USA conveying Best Wishes with a Rainbow

Stamp of Hongkong China (2014) featuring the Rainbow

United Kingdom issued a stamp on the Irish legend of the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for the pot of gold they stole from the Vikings is said to be at the end of the rainbow, which is impossible to reach as a rainbow is an optical effect and cannot be approached. No one ever finds the pot of gold or the magical creatures as rainbows are circles and have no end.

A baby born after a mother has had a pregnancy loss due to a miscarriage or a stillbirth  is known as a ‘rainbow pregnancy’. However, in parts of Burma, rainbows are considered demons that threaten children. Tribes in the Amazon basin also associate rainbows with disease. 

The Rainbow Flag (also called the LGBTQ pride flag) is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) pride and originated in San Francisco, USA in 1978 by Gilbert Baker and had eight stripes. The rainbow flag represents the diverse community itself, the diversity in sexuality. 

The first colour Hot Pink was removed as such a fabric was generally unavailable (1978-79) and Indigo and Turquoise were replaced with Royal Blue (1979) to have a six colour flag (with each colour having a specific meaning) -  red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), blue (serenity) and violet (spirit). The flag is flown horizontally with the red stripe on top, as in a natural rainbow. 

For Buddhists, the rainbow symbolises the highest state that can be reached before Nirvana or Enlightenment. The Buddhist Flag is a rainbow flag designed in the 19^th century- a vertical arrangement of six bands representing the six colours of the aura which emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained enlightenment.

Some countries have even issued coins featuring the rainbow:

The Royal Canadian Mint in 2016 in its Weather Phenomenon Series Silver Coins featured the brilliant colours of the rainbow on the reverse of the Canadian Dollar 20 (1 oz.) silver coin. You can see a violent storm is rolling through the open plains of Canada, with a farmhouse and barn in the middle ground. As the storm rolls on into the distance and the Sun cracks through, a flash of brilliant red, yellow, green, blue and purple shines through and comes to the ground in the field in the foreground in the form of a rainbow.

Silver Coin (2009) of Republic of Palau, an island nation in the Western Pacific Ocean depicting ‘Rainbow’s End’ with the pot of gold

A rainbow is a rare, fleeting and often unexpected gift from nature. Seeing it, one can feel both exhilaration and comfort from its beauty and implication of hope as a rainbow appears after a storm and signals a return to brighter days. The colours of a rainbow are light, fresh and happy and since they are so rare, they create a sense of awe and delight, in addition to the promise of sunshine with blue sky. That is why some people weep with joy or jump with excitement on seeing a rainbow ! 

May the recent occurrence of a Double Rainbow in Delhi NCR be a Harbinger of Good Times, Good Fortune for India and the world ! Amen !

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© Sushil Kumar Mishra 2020