The Creoles of color are a multiracial ethnic group of Louisiana Creoles that developed in the former French and Spanish colonies of Louisiana (especially in New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwestern Florida, in what is now the United States. French colonists in Louisiana first used the term "Creole" to refer to people born in the colony, rather than in Europe, thus drawing a distinction between Old-World Europeans and Africans from their descendants born in the New World. Today, many Creoles of color have assimilated into (and contributed to) Black American culture, while some retain their distinct identity as a subset within the broader African American ethnic group.

New Orleans Creoles of color have been named as a "vital source of U.S. national-indigenous culture." Creoles of color helped produce the historic cultural pattern of unique literature, art, music, architecture, and cuisine that is seen in New Orleans. The first black poetry works in the United States, such as Les Cenelles, were created by New Orleans Creoles of color. The centuries-old New Orleans Tribune was owned and operated by Creoles of color.

After the American Civil War, and Reconstruction, the city's black elite fought against informal segregation practices and Jim Crow laws. With Plessy v. Ferguson and the beginning of legal segregation in 1896, Creoles of color became disenfranchised in Louisiana and other southern states. Some moved to other states, sometimes passing into white groups as passé blanc, or integrating into Black groups. Creole of color artists, such as Sidney Bechet and Jelly Roll Morton, helped spread Jazz; and Allen Toussaint, the "beloved Creole gentleman", contributed to rhythm and blues.

Creoles of color who moved to other states founded diaspora communities, which were called "Little New Orleans", such as Little New Orleans, in Los Angeles and Little New Orleans, in Galveston.

Créole is derived from Latin and means to "create", and was first used in the "New World" by the Portuguese to describe local goods and products. The Spanish later used the term during colonial occupation to mean any native inhabitant of the New World. French colonists used the term Créole to distinguish themselves from foreign-born settlers, and later as distinct from Anglo-American settlers.

Créole referred to people born in Louisiana whose ancestors came from other places. Colonial documents show that the term Créole was used variously at different times to refer to white people, mixed-race people, and black people, both free-born and enslaved. The addition of "-of color" was historically necessary when referring to Creoles of African and mixed ancestry, as the term "Creole" (Créole) did not convey any racial connotation until after the colonial period.

During French colonization, social order was divided into three distinct categories: Creole aristocrats (grands habitants); a prosperous, educated group of multi-racial Creoles of European, African and Native American descent (bourgeoisie); and the far larger class of African slaves and Creole peasants (petits habitants). French Law regulated interracial conduct within the colony. An example of such laws are the Louisiana Code Noir.

Though interracial relations were legally forbidden, or restricted, they were not uncommon. For a time, there were customs regulating relationships between white men and young women of African or mixed ancestry, whose mothers would negotiate the terms. These often included freedom for an enslaved woman and any children of the union, property settlement, and education. Mixed-race Creoles of color became identified as a distinct ethnic group, Gens de couleur libres (free persons of color), and were granted their free-person status by the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1810.