Color-based caching allows each cache line to be distinguished by a specific color, and enables the manipulation of cache behavior based upon the colors of the cache lines. When multiple threads are able to share a cache, effective cache management is critical to overall performance. Color-based caching provides an effective method to better utilize caches and avoid unnecessary cache thrashing and pollution. Hardware maintains color-based counters relative to the cache lines to monitor and obtain feedback on cache line events. These counters are utilized for cache coherence transactions in multiple processor systems.