Legend of the Beautiful Rainbow Bridge

A common legend from this country says that long, long ago, there were many Gods who lived on the island of Guam. The native people decided to get rid of, or to destroy, all of the Gods. Legend has it they misbehaved, and didn't want the Gods watching over them. There was one girl named Veronica, however, who did not want the Gods banned from the island because she strongly believed in their magical powers and wanted them to favor her. When the Gods heard of the plan of the people, they decided to destroy all of the people of the island, except Veronica. They decided that they would build a bridge of beautiful colours for Veronica to climb upon while they destroyed the others. Veronica climbed on the bridge to escape, and today you can see the bridge of beautiful colours made especially for Veronica. The bridge is called the rainbow.

The Story of the Rainbow

Long ago, at the beginning of time, the colours of the world quarreled. Each claimed that it was the best, the most beautiful, the most important, the most useful, and the favorite colour.

Green said, "Look at the grass and the leaves and the trees. Clearly, you can see that I am the most important colour. I am the color of life and of hope. Look around and you see that I am everywhere."

Then Blue interrupted and exclaimed, "Consider the sky and the sea. Water is the basis of all life and without me there would be no blue skies. Without me, there would be nothing."

Yellow laughed! "I am bright and warm and you are all so serious. Every time you look at a yellow daffodil or a big sunflower, you smile. The sun, the moon, and the stars are all yellow. The day starts and ends with me and without me you would have no fun."

Orange started to boast. "I am the colour of good food that brings health and strength. Carrots, oranges, and pumpkins have valuable vitamins. An when orange fills the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that all who see me gasp in awe."

Well, Red started shouting. "I am the ruler of all life. Blood is red and blood is life. I am the colour of passion and of love as you see in the red rose, the poinsettia, and the beautiful poppies."

Purple stood up and was very tall. He spoke with great importance in his voice. "I am the colour of royalty and kings. Powerful people have always chosen me for I am the colour of authority and wisdom."

At last, in a very quiet voice, Indigo spoke. "You hardly notice me, but although I am quiet, without me you are all nothing. You need me for balance and contrast, and for inner peace."

The arguing continued, each colour boasting and bragging and quarreling and squabbling. Each was certain that his or her colour was the absolute best. As their fighting became louder, a flash of lightning flew through the sky. Thunder cracked and boomed and rain started to pour down in buckets. The colours shook with fear and started to huddle together for comfort.

Then the rain began to speak: "You colours are so foolish. You are fighting about who is best, each trying to outdo the rest. Don't you understand that you were each made by God for a special purpose? Each is unique and different? Join hands and follow me."

Doing as the rain told them, the colours came together and joined hands. "From now on," the rain said, "when it rains, each of you will stretch out across the sky in a great arch of color. The rainbow will be a sign of peace and hope for tomorrow."

So, whenever rain washes the world, look for a rainbow to appear in the sky. When it appears, remember that every one of you is special. Let the colors of the rainbow remind you to appreciate yourself and one another. Hold hands with a friend and remember that together we make a rainbow of peace and hope that stretches across the world.

(Adapted by Jeanette Larson from “How the Rainbow Came to Be,” a traditional Native AmDon Tonino Bello, a great Italian bishop, loved to define Peace as the “conviviality of differences, that is putting everything together on the table of the same mankind. “Peace is to eat our own bread at table together with our brothers.” He used to link mankind’s differences (colour, race, religion) with the colours of the rainbow of the Peace Flag.

The first who used the rainbow colours (owing to their physical characteristic to restore white light if made whirl fast) as a symbol of fraternity for all peoples in the world was the philosopher and pacifist Bertrand Russel, the leader of the so called “Committee of the 100”, which included important persons of culture who, in the fifties, had got together against the nuclear threat. These colours became the symbol of peace and hope after the storm of the second world war.

The Rainbow in the Bible

However, we think it is in the Bible that we can find the first true origin of the rainbow as a symbol of peace. In the first book of the Old Testament there is a passage which can be considered, for its meaning, the origin of the seven colour flag. In it God, just after the Flood, sets a rainbow in the cloud as the sign of his covenant with men and nature, and promises there would never be another Flood on the Earth. This covenant establishes the Peace between Earth and Haven and, by consequence, among all people.

Following God’s words, in the medieval representations of the Last Judgment, we see that saved people are surrounded by a rainbow, the symbol of the final peace between God and man.