Rainbows, so very beautiful, and yet they also represent a covenant of God with man:

Genesis 9:13-15

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

As the scripture said, the rainbow was a reminder of the covenant between God and all living flesh, human and animal; that he would never flood the whole earth again. This made me wonder if animals could appreciate the wonder of a rainbow.

So I have a quick video to explain how humans and animals can see:

So to review, the light spectrum is vast, but our eyes can see only a limited spectrum due to the three cones we have. We know a rainbow goes into ultra-violet since black and white photos also capture that spectrum.

Notice how wide the Rainbow is; that is because it has the ultraviolet too.

So it turns out animals can see rainbows, but not like we do, due to different kinds of cones.

Here is what a human and dog would see. So a dog will see a rainbow, but since they do not see the same color spectrum we do, it will not be quite the same. It still does not answer if they can appreciate it, though. But since God said it is a reminder of the covenant between God and every living creature, it makes sense that animals can see them.

A rainbow is more than just a reminder of God’s covenant with all living creatures.
Ezekiel 1:28:

As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

I had asked if an animal can grasp the full beauty of a rainbow. Perhaps the better question is, do we grasp and remember that the rainbow, besides a reminder of the covenant God has with us, is also the closest thing we can see today of God’s radiance?

Have you ever fallen on your face when you saw a rainbow? Or at least given thanks to God…?

This article as part of a sermon.