Colored coating compositions comprising a polymer binder and a sphere selected from porous metal oxide spheres formed from metal oxide particles and having an average porosity of from 0.10 to 0.90; polymer spheres formed from a multimodal distribution of polymer particles; or mixtures thereof, wherein the colored coating composition when dried, exhibits visible light absorbance at a wavelength range from 400 nm to 800 nm. The sphere has an average particle size diameter of from 1 micron to 5 microns, or from 3 microns to 5 microns and exhibits a structural color which may be angle-dependent or angle-independent.