The rainbow song teaches children that the colours of the rainbow are "red, yellow, pink and green, orange and purple and blue." However, this song is merely to introduce children to the colour spectrum and is actually misleading with regards to the true colours of the rainbow.
The true colours of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. These colours make up the primary and secondary colours of the colour wheel discovered by Isaac Newton. The colours are created by a reflection from rain droplets, and when light is reflected through any transparent surface, these are the colours that will be produced.
The best way to remember this is with a mnemonic which is designed to aid the memory. The most commonly used mnemonic in the United Kingdom for the colours of the rainbow is Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. Each first letter of a word stands for a colour of the rainbow, in its correct order.
The true colours of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. These colours make up the primary and secondary colours of the colour wheel discovered by Isaac Newton. The colours are created by a reflection from rain droplets, and when light is reflected through any transparent surface, these are the colours that will be produced.
The best way to remember this is with a mnemonic which is designed to aid the memory. The most commonly used mnemonic in the United Kingdom for the colours of the rainbow is Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. Each first letter of a word stands for a colour of the rainbow, in its correct order.