Slippage of the Rainbow

The rainbow is one visual symbol that has held different meanings over time. One website that I found tracked some of these differet meanings.

The rainbow is another ancient and universal symbol, often representing the
connection between human beings and their gods. In Greek mythology it was
associated with Iris, the goddess who brought messages from the gods on Mount
Olympus. In Scandinavian mythology the rainbow was a bridge between the gods and the earth. In the Bible a rainbow showed Noah that the Biblical flood was
finally over, and that God had forgiven his people. In the Chinese tradition,
the rainbow is a common symbol for marriage because the colours represent the
union of yin and yang. Nowadays the rainbow is used by many popular movements
for peace and the environment, representing the possibility of a better world in
the future and promising sunshine after the rain.

So, the rainbow is a visual symbol that has definitly undergone some slippage of meaning over time. It was originally a symbol for the relationship between a culture and their God, then in Irish culture it represented wealth in some forms, and was included in myths that talked about finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. As the previous paragraph discussed, it has now become associated with popular movements, the most known of which being the Gay rights movement. It is ironic that a single symbol is considered importat to the church, and to gay rights associatons, which are often pited against each other. This shows how symbols can have many different meanings and change drastically over time.