Lily is a perennial bulbous herb. Lily is one of the most important ornamental crops in the world because of its dignified posture and colorful flowers. The underground part fleshy bulbs of the edible lily can be eaten，and some species can also be used as medicine or extract spices，therefore，lily is a plant resource with high development and utilization value. The differences of the types and contents of anthocyanins and their distribution in different areas in petals result in the color diversity of the ornamental lily and the violet red change of the edible lily bulbs at the late storage stage are mainly caused by anthocyanin accumulation. Anthocyanin is widely distributed and an important natural pigment in plants，and its biosynthesis is mainly co-regulated by structural and regulatory genes that interact with environmental factors. Anthocyanin accumulation after biosynthesis is regulated by transporter. The variety of flower color is beneficial to improve the ornamental value，while the violet red change might decrease the quality and commodity value of the edible lily bulbs. Therefore，this study reviews and summarizes the structure，biosynthetic pathway，transcriptional regulation and transport of anthocyanins of the ornamental lily flowers and edible lily bulbs，and the exploration fields and trends were conceived，in order to provide a reference for deciphering the molecular regulatory mechanism of lily anthocyanin glycosides，as well as improving its content and accumulation site.