Rainbow Pattern
Make a seamless rainbow pattern from 10 motifs of our own: a classic five-band arch, a rainbow rising from a cloud, a full-circle ring, a quarter rainbow, three bands with gaps, a rainbow over a rising sun, a horseshoe arch, a double rainbow, a rainbow wave and a rainbow over raindrops. Every band is drawn between two circular arcs round one shared centre, so the stripes stay evenly wide all the way round. Scatter the rainbows in a half-drop, brick, grid or tossed repeat, put them on checks, a diamond lattice or with small clouds at the corners, or run them in a border strip between rows of small arches, rainbow stripes or clouds. Pick your own five band colours (classic, pastel, muted earth tones or five shades of one colour), then download a seamless SVG tile at real size, a full-size PDF with a motif key, a 300 DPI PNG or a background PNG at an exact screen size. Nothing is uploaded.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Page 1 is the pattern at full size with a 1 in test square; page 2 is the motif key. The SVG tile is one repeat and joins edge to edge; the background PNG is drawn at the exact pixel size you pick.
Motifs and repeat
Colours
Print and screen
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing is uploaded or saved. Every rainbow, cloud, sun and raindrop is our own drawing, not a copy of a brand print or a cartoon. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a rainbow pattern
- Choose a preset, or pick a motif set and a repeat (half-drop, brick, grid, tossed or border strip).
- For a grid, choose a ground (none, corner clouds, a diamond lattice or checks) and its line width; for a border strip, choose the edges (small arches, rainbow stripes, clouds or rules).
- Set the columns, rows, spacing, motif size, smallest gap, seed and (for tossed) the largest turn.
- Pick the ground, the five band colours, the cloud and sun colour and the ground-pattern colour.
- Download the SVG tile, a background PNG, or the PDF; print at 100% and check the 1 in test square.
What you can use it for
- Nursery and playroom fabric, cushions and wallpaper mock-ups (real-size tile)
- Wrapping paper, cards and party bags
- Border strips for shelf edges, classroom boards and scrapbook pages
- Phone, desktop and slide backgrounds (PNG at exact sizes)
- Stickers, labels and stamp planning
- Pride month, rainy-day and spring themes in your own colours
The 14 presets
| # | Preset | Motif set | Repeat | Ground or edges | Tile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Classic rainbows on cream, half-drop | All 10 motifs | Half-drop | None | 5 × 5 in |
| 2 | Muted earth-tone rainbows on linen, grid | Arches | Grid | None | 5 × 5 in |
| 3 | Pastel rainbows with clouds, tossed | Nursery | Tossed | None | 5 × 5 in |
| 4 | Rainbow sky on baby blue, brick | Rainbow sky | Brick | None | 5 × 5 in |
| 5 | Arches with small clouds at the corners, grid | Classic rainbow arch only | Grid | Small clouds at the cell corners | 5 × 5 in |
| 6 | Rainbow rings on a diamond lattice | Full-circle rainbow ring only | Grid | Diamond lattice | 5 × 5 in |
| 7 | Arches on soft checks, grid | Classic rainbow arch only | Grid | Checks | 5 × 5 in |
| 8 | Bright rainbows on navy, half-drop | Round shapes | Half-drop | None | 5 × 5 in |
| 9 | Five shades of one blue, every motif, grid | All 10 motifs | Grid | None | 5 × 5 in |
| 10 | Border strip: rainbows between rows of small arches | Classic rainbow arch only | Border strip | Row of small rainbow arches edges | 6 × 1.7 in |
| 11 | Border strip: raindrop rainbows between rainbow stripes | Rainbow over three raindrops only | Border strip | Rainbow stripes (the five band colours) edges | 6 × 1.7 in |
| 12 | Border strip: cloud rainbows between rows of clouds | Rainbow rising from a cloud only | Border strip | Row of small clouds edges | 6 × 1.7 in |
| 13 | Tiny rainbows, ditsy print | Arches | Tossed | None | 3.6 × 3.6 in |
| 14 | Fabric scale: 20 cm repeat, corner clouds | Arches | Grid | Small clouds at the cell corners | 20 × 20 cm |
Each preset only fills in the fields; change any setting afterwards.
The 10 rainbow motifs
| Motif | Bands (concentric arcs, tested) | Symmetry (tested on every point) |
|---|---|---|
| Classic rainbow arch (five bands, 160°) | 5 bands | mirrored left to right |
| Rainbow rising from a cloud | 4 bands, clouds of 5 circles | one-sided |
| Full-circle rainbow ring | 5 bands | mirrored left to right |
| Quarter rainbow from a corner | 5 bands | one-sided |
| Three bands with gaps | 3 bands | mirrored left to right |
| Rainbow over a rising sun | 5 bands | mirrored left to right |
| Horseshoe rainbow (240° arch) | 4 bands | mirrored left to right |
| Double rainbow, the outer bow in reverse order | 6 bands | mirrored left to right |
| Rainbow wave (two arches, one up, one down) | 8 bands | one-sided |
| Rainbow over three raindrops | 4 bands | mirrored left to right |
All motifs are our own drawings. Page 2 of the PDF draws each motif used, large, in the pattern colours.
The mixed motif sets
| Set | Motifs |
|---|---|
| All 10 motifs | classic rainbow arch, rainbow rising from a cloud, full-circle rainbow ring, quarter rainbow from a corner, three bands with gaps, rainbow over a rising sun, horseshoe rainbow, double rainbow, the outer bow in reverse order, rainbow wave, rainbow over three raindrops |
| Arches | classic rainbow arch, three bands with gaps, horseshoe rainbow, double rainbow, the outer bow in reverse order |
| Rainbow sky | rainbow rising from a cloud, rainbow over a rising sun, rainbow over three raindrops |
| Round shapes | full-circle rainbow ring, quarter rainbow from a corner, rainbow wave |
| Nursery | classic rainbow arch, rainbow rising from a cloud, rainbow over three raindrops, rainbow over a rising sun |
Grounds and border edges
| Ground or edge | What is drawn | Used with |
|---|---|---|
| Small clouds at the cell corners | Small clouds at the cell corners | Grid repeat |
| Diamond lattice | diagonal lines, a dot at every corner | Grid repeat |
| Checks | every second cell filled | Grid repeat |
| Row of small rainbow arches | Along the top and bottom of the strip | Border strip |
| Rainbow stripes (the five band colours) | Along the top and bottom of the strip | Border strip |
| Row of small clouds | Along the top and bottom of the strip | Border strip |
| Rules and dots | Along the top and bottom of the strip | Border strip |
Background sizes (first preset)
| Background | Pixels | Repeats across × down |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | 1170 × 2532 px | 2.44 × 5.28 |
| Phone | 1080 × 1920 px | 2.25 × 4 |
| Desktop | 1920 × 1080 px | 4 × 2.25 |
| Large screen | 2560 × 1440 px | 5.33 × 3 |
| Square post | 1080 × 1080 px | 2.25 × 2.25 |
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Rainbow motifs as a seamless repeat or border strip | Rainbow Pattern (this page) |
| Clouds, rain, sun and moon as a repeat | Cloud Pattern |
| The colours of the rainbow, named, with codes | Rainbow Colors |
| A shape of your own as a repeat | SVG Pattern Generator |
| A phone wallpaper with a quote | Phone Wallpaper Maker |
For the colour names and codes of a rainbow, see Rainbow Colors; to repeat a shape of your own, try the SVG Pattern Generator; to add a quote over a pattern on a phone screen, the Phone Wallpaper Maker.
More free tools
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Frequently asked questions
Which rainbow motifs are there?
10: a classic five-band arch (160°, as a sky rainbow looks with the sun above the horizon), a rainbow rising from a cloud, a full-circle rainbow ring, a quarter rainbow from a corner, three bands with gaps, a rainbow over a rising sun, a horseshoe arch (240°), a double rainbow with the outer bow in reverse order, a rainbow wave (one arch up, one down) and a rainbow over three raindrops. Each can be used on its own, or in the mixed sets.
Are the bands really even?
Yes. Each band is the space between two circular arcs round the same centre, and the bands of one rainbow share that centre and step inwards by the band width (plus the gap, where there is one). Our tests check every drawn point of every band against its two circles.
Can I choose the rainbow colours?
Yes. There are five band colours (outside to inside), one colour for the clouds, sun and raindrops, and one for the ground pattern. The presets include classic red to blue, pastel, muted earth tones, bright on navy and five shades of one blue; any colour works.
Why is the outer bow of the double rainbow in reverse order?
In a double rainbow seen in the sky, the second, fainter bow outside the first shows its colours in the opposite order. The motif follows that: the inner bow runs from band 1 outside to band 5 inside, the outer bow from band 5 outside to band 1 inside.
What is the difference between half-drop, brick, grid, tossed and border?
In a grid, the motifs sit in straight rows and columns. In a half-drop, every second column is moved down exactly half a cell; in a brick repeat, every second row is moved across exactly half a cell. Tossed is a half-drop where each motif is also turned by a seeded angle up to the largest turn you set. Border makes one row of motifs between two edge bands, as a strip for hems, ribbons and page edges. A half-drop or tossed repeat needs an even number of columns and a brick repeat an even number of rows; the maker says so if they do not.
Can the motifs overlap?
No. Each motif sits in the middle of its own square cell, and the maker refuses a size that would come closer than the smallest gap you set to the edge of its cell (or to the ground); it tells you the spacing needed. Our tests check every point of every motif against its cell and the ground.
Will the pattern repeat without a seam?
Yes. A motif, band or edge shape that runs over an edge of the repeat carries on from the opposite edge, so copies placed edge to edge join with no seam. Our tests check this two ways for every preset: each shape cut by an edge has its exact partner one repeat over in the same tile, and sampled colours match one repeat over.
Is the tile the exact size I set?
Yes. The SVG tile is written in inches or centimetres (the first preset is 5 in square: 4 cells of 1.25 in), and the PDF prints the pattern at full size with a 1 in test square.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Everything is drawn by JavaScript in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.