This article is about a term used for black people like African-Americans. For the term used for an ethnic group in Southern Africa, see Coloured. For other uses, see Color (disambiguation). For the dc Talk song, see Colored People (song).

Colored is a term that was formerly used in the United States to refer to black people (i.e., persons of sub-Saharan African ancestry; members of the black race). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word colored was first used in the 14th Century.

In other English-speaking countries, the term has varied meanings. In South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the term Coloured refers both to a specific ethnic group of complex mixed origins, which is considered neither black nor white, and in other contexts to people of mixed race; in neither context is its usage considered derogatory. In British usage, the term refers to "a person who is wholly or partly of non-white descent" and its use may be regarded as antiquated or offensive, and other terms are preferable, particularly when referring to a single ethnicity.

The term should not be confused with the more recent term people of color, which generally refers to all non-white people.