Tricolia was named by Risso (1826) [Sepkoski's age data: T Than R]. It is extant.

It was reranked as Phasianella (Tricolia) by Cossmann and Peyrot (1917).

It was assigned to Phasianella by Cossmann and Peyrot (1917); to Phasianellidae by Woodring (1957), Weisbord (1962), Ladd (1966), Kensley (1972); to Turbinidae by Todd (2001); to Archaeogastropoda by Sepkoski (2002); to Tricoliidae by Woodring (1928), Gardner (1947), Vera-Peláez et al. (2004); and to Tricoliinae by Wilson (1993), Lozouet et al. (2001), Bouchet et al. (2005).