'tricolored' originates from the combining prefix 'tri-' (from Latin 'tres' meaning 'three') plus English 'colored' (from Old French 'colour', from Latin 'color' meaning 'appearance, hue').

'tricolored' developed from Middle English 'tricolour' (alternatively spelled 'tricolor'), where 'tri-' was attached to 'colour'/'color'; the modern English adjective form adds the -ed suffix to mean 'having' or 'marked by' three colors.

Initially, the elements meant 'three' and 'color' respectively; the compound has long meant 'having three colors,' and this basic meaning has remained stable into modern usage.