ROYGBIV

This article is about the mnemonic. For the comic book character named Roy G. Bivolo, see Rainbow Raider.

The conventional seven colors of the rainbow

Roy G. Biv is a mnemonic for the traditional sequence of hues in the visible spectrum and in rainbows:

• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue
• Indigo
• Violet

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colors; the distinct bands are an artifact of human color vision. In Roy G. Biv, the colors are arranged in the order of decreasing wavelengths, with red being 650 nm and violet being about 400 nm. The reverse VIBGYOR is used in many Commonwealth countries.

History

Newton's color wheel that introduced indigo as a basic color. The uneven color division along the color circle correlates with the intervals of the musical major scale.

In Classical Antiquity, Aristotle had claimed there was a fundamental scale of seven basic colors. In the Renaissance, several artists tried to establish a new sequence of up to seven primary colors from which all other colors could be mixed. In line with this artistic tradition, Newton divided his color circle, which he constructed to explain additive color mixing, into seven colors. His color sequence with the unusual color indigo is still kept alive today by the Roy G. Biv mnemonic. Originally he used only five colors, but later he added orange and indigo, in order to match the number of musical notes in the major scale.

The Munsell color system, the first formal color notation system (1905), names only five "principal hues": red, yellow, green, blue, and purple (although note that Munsell's purple is not a spectral hue).

Another traditional mnemonic device has been to turn the seven initial letters of the spectral colors into a sentence. In England the most common is "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain". The mnemonic is said to refer to the defeat and death of Richard, Duke of York at the Battle of Wakefield. In order to avoid reference to this defeat, those from Yorkshire developed the alternative "Rowntrees of York Gave Best in Value". Alternatively, the Biblically inspired "Read Out Your Good Book In Verse" may be used.

Roy G Biv in popular culture

"Roygbiv" is a song from Boards of Canada albums Boc Maxima and Music Has the Right to Children, and has been covered many times by electronic dance band STS9.

"Roy G. Biv" is a song from the They Might Be Giants album Here Comes Science.

Acclaimed comic book writer Geoff Johns created the idea of an Emotional Spectrum around "Roy G. Biv" for his Green Lantern comic series for DC Comics. Beginning with the central and most powerful color of green, which is attached to willpower, he devised a sliding scale of emotional control, where the colors at the opposite ends of the spectrum, red (rage) and violet (love) are the most powerful and controlling over their users and their surroundings. Orange becomes the light of avarice (greed), yellow the color of fear, blue is the light of hope, and indigo the personification of compassion. Each light has its corresponding Lantern Corps and power ring. These Corps all came into prominence during the epic and critically acclaimed DC Comics event: Blackest Night. Blackest Night chronicled the rise of the Black Lantern Corps and their power, death, which can only be defeated by the combined powers of all seven Lantern Corps, creating the White Lantern.

Roy G. Biv was a recurring character in the children's television series Beakman's World, played by Paul Zaloom.