Color design can provide certain support for unmanned inland ships, therefore, for unmanned inland ships, it is necessary to achieve visual effect improvement through reasonable exterior color design strategies. Based on this, the article analyzes the significance of color and visual effect design for the appearance of unmanned inland ships, and proposes design strategies including safety function oriented color design, coordination and unity of color aesthetics and hull form, environmental adaptability and visual sustainability design, aiming to provide some assistance for the appearance design of unmanned inland ships.