The rainbow has an edge over any other atmospheric phenomenon: it appears when no one expects it anymore. The sky has just finished pouring rain, the scene is gray and flat, then in a handful of seconds everything changes. Very little is needed: a passing ray, droplets still suspended, and those seven colors that anyone can recite by heart. It lasts a short time and it always remains one step beyond where you are, no matter how hard you try to approach it. Probably this is also why we’ve built legends, flags, promises of pots of gold and half of world mythology around it. On 28 August the International Rainbow Day recurs, and it is a good occasion to go see in which corners of the planet this spectacle repeats with greater frequency.
August 28, International Rainbow Day
On August 28 the International Rainbow Day is celebrated, a recurring observance dedicated to a natural phenomenon whose physics explains how sunlight, meeting suspended water droplets, creates a refraction phenomenon. White light splits into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. For millennia, however, the rainbow has been described as something that goes beyond optics.
In Genesis it is the sign of the covenant between God and humanity after the Flood, a promise written in the sky. Elsewhere it becomes a road: in Norse mythology the gods traverse it to descend among men, and it even has a name, Bifröst. Every culture has put its own mark on it. And today? It becomes a symbol of peace, inclusion, diversity, hope, rebirth.
Where to see the most beautiful rainbows in the world
A rainbow can appear virtually anywhere there are simultaneously droplets in the air and sunlight behind the observer. Yet there are places where climate, mountains, waterfalls and atmospheric conditions make these encounters much more frequent.
Among the most spectacular destinations is Machu Picchu, in Peru. The ancient Inca city sits between the Amazon rainforest and the Andes, in a region where rain, humidity and breaks in the clouds can change rapidly. Afternoon showers create the ideal conditions for a colored arc to appear above the mountains and the Sacred Valley, adding further magic to a panorama already legendary.
Then there are the Iguazú Falls, on the border between Argentina and Brazil, where the water itself multiplies the possibilities: the enormous amount of tiny droplets raised continually by the falls stays suspended in the air and, when struck by sunlight, can give rise to towering rainbows in front of the Devil’s Gorge.
And thus there are the Hawaii, considered one of the absolute paradises for those who dream of chasing rainbows. In the subtropical Pacific, trade winds bring frequent downpours interspersed with sudden openings of sun, while the mountainous terrain favors the formation of clouds and precipitation. The result is an almost perfect combination: rainbows that can appear in the morning, among the mountains, near the ocean and even at sunset.
In Hawaii the rainbow is not merely an atmospheric spectacle: it is part of the landscape and the islands’ imagination. It can appear in the ocean’s mist, above a green ridge after a shower or while the sun returns to illuminate the Pacific. And perhaps this is its greatest charm: you cannot book it, you cannot schedule it, and you cannot hold it back.
