Colored fluorescent lamp assembly

A colored fluorescent lamp assembly of the type adapted to produce illumination of sequentially different colors, said assembly comprising a plurality of lamp tubes respectively filled with a discharge gas, each tube including an inner surface coated with a colored fluorescent substance, the coating of each said inner surface producing a different color than the coatings of the other said inner surfaces, said lamp tubes each being closed at one end thereof in a gas-tight manner provided at said closed end with a first electrode of a first polarity in gas-tight manner, a cell defining a gas-tight sealed space having therein a second electrode of a second polarity opposite to said first polarity and acting as a common electrode for said first electrodes, said cell being coupled in a gas-tight manner to the other ends of the lamp tubes to communicate said sealed space with the interiors of all of the lamp tubes and having a dimension in a direction parallel to longitudinal axes of the tubes which is smaller than an axial length of said tubes, said cell including an inner surface, said coatings of fluorescent substances terminating short of said inner surface of said cell so that said inner surface of said cell is free of fluorescent substances, and a single means for controllably generating discharge lightings between said common electrode and each of said first electrodes.