From d82b48c3a8e402244763e3f891585b9cb55f3abe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:06:07 -0800
Subject: [PATCH 1/4] Add deprecation warning for color

---
 Lib/argparse.py           | 11 +++++++++++
 Lib/test/test_argparse.py |  6 ++++++
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Lib/argparse.py b/Lib/argparse.py
index 633fec69ea4615..48c7206db95437 100644
--- a/Lib/argparse.py
+++ b/Lib/argparse.py
@@ -166,7 +166,18 @@ def __init__(
         indent_increment=2,
         max_help_position=24,
         width=None,
+        color=None,
     ):
+        # Handle deprecated 'color' parameter for backwards compatibility
+        if color is not None:
+            import warnings
+            warnings.warn(
+                "The 'color' parameter is deprecated. "
+                "Set 'color' in ArgumentParser instead.",
+                DeprecationWarning,
+                stacklevel=2,
+            )
+
         # default setting for width
         if width is None:
             import shutil
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_argparse.py b/Lib/test/test_argparse.py
index 758af98d5cb046..2a53bd8f12e681 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_argparse.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_argparse.py
@@ -5702,6 +5702,12 @@ def test_direct_formatter_instantiation(self):
         help_text = formatter.format_help()
         self.assertEqual(help_text, "usage: program\n")
 
+    def test_formatter_color_parameter_deprecated(self):
+        with self.assertWarns(DeprecationWarning) as cm:
+            argparse.HelpFormatter(prog="program", color=True)
+        self.assertIn("'color' parameter is deprecated", str(cm.warning))
+        self.assertIn("ArgumentParser", str(cm.warning))
+
 # =====================================
 # Optional/Positional constructor tests
 # =====================================

From cf98ebc4c8b9ab609bb64f1bb9f281296ab88600 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:07:02 -0800
Subject: [PATCH 2/4] Cleanup

---
 Lib/argparse.py | 1 -
 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Lib/argparse.py b/Lib/argparse.py
index 48c7206db95437..059bfe9aad8a9d 100644
--- a/Lib/argparse.py
+++ b/Lib/argparse.py
@@ -168,7 +168,6 @@ def __init__(
         width=None,
         color=None,
     ):
-        # Handle deprecated 'color' parameter for backwards compatibility
         if color is not None:
             import warnings
             warnings.warn(

From 42e5f31e0d5b90fe6c04ff56d1695e2db952fdb8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Savannah Ostrowski <savannah@python.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:11:30 -0800
Subject: [PATCH 3/4] Add to whats new

---
 Doc/whatsnew/3.15.rst | 6 ++++++
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.15.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.15.rst
index 7e032fe5df2fdf..7f9298de1213b2 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.15.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.15.rst
@@ -1078,6 +1078,12 @@ Deprecated
 New deprecations
 ----------------
 
+* :mod:`argparse`:
+
+  * The *color* parameter of :class:`~argparse.HelpFormatter` is deprecated.
+    Use the *color* parameter of :class:`~argparse.ArgumentParser` instead.
+    (Contributed by Savannah Ostrowski in :gh:`142946`.)
+
 * CLI:
 
   * Deprecate :option:`-b` and :option:`!-bb` command-line options

From 0333f0e3dfaf792ee0004f203ad8a1647bf40982 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "blurb-it[bot]" <43283697+blurb-it[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:13:15 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 4/4] =?UTF-8?q?=F0=9F=93=9C=F0=9F=A4=96=20Added=20by=20blu?=
 =?UTF-8?q?rb=5Fit.?=
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

---
 .../next/Library/2025-12-18-17-13-10.gh-issue-142928.bcgx78.rst  | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
 create mode 100644 Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-17-13-10.gh-issue-142928.bcgx78.rst

diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-17-13-10.gh-issue-142928.bcgx78.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-17-13-10.gh-issue-142928.bcgx78.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..6ea580784c0a2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-12-18-17-13-10.gh-issue-142928.bcgx78.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Deprecate :class:`~argparse.HelpFormatter`'s *color* parameter. Users should use the *color* parameter on :class:`~argparse.ArgumentParser` instead.