Опираясь на решение Байрона и используя плагин color animations :
// The array of colours and current index within the colour array
// This array can be hex values or named colours
var colours = ['red', 'orange', 'yellow', 'green', 'blue', 'purple'];
var currIndex = 0;
// The element to animage the background-color of
var elem = $('#element-id');
// Infinitely animate the background-color of your element every second
var loop = setInterval(function(){
elem.animate({backgroundColor: colours[currIndex++]});
// Set the current index in the colour array, making sure to loop
// back to beginning once last colour is reached
currIndex = currIndex == colours.length ? 0 : currIndex;
}, 1000);
Вы можете увидеть это в действии здесь .