Colors of the Rainbow and/or the Visible Spectrum

What is known, rather romantically, as the colors of the rainbow, are also the main colors that are visible to the unaided human eye. Found between the wavelengths of light known as Infra-Red and Ultra-Violet, these seven colors (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) and their various hues represent in fact only a tiny fraction of the full electromagnetic spectrum.

infrared

ultraviolet

The Tibetan concept of the rainbow is rather different from the Western one in that it has only five colors rather than seven. Based on this, one finds expressions such as the sphere of five-colored rainbow light ('ja' tshon 'od lnga'i klong); a poetic synonym for 'ja' lus, the Rainbow Body.