Auxin response factors （ARFs） are a family of transcription factors that play an important role in flower development through responding to auxin signaling. However， their importance in flower development remains elucidated in sunflower. In this study， 39 ARF family members were identified in sunflower through transcriptome data analysis， and they were categorized into five subfamilies. These members shared similar gene structures， conserved domains and functional motifs. The tissue specific expression pattern analysis showed that 20 ARFs are likely involved in flower development regulation. Through analyzing the transcriptional profiles at various stages during flower development between WT， and the cb1 （crazy broccoli 1） mutant， which exhibits defects in meristem determinacy and floral organ differentiation， five ARF genes （gene33195， gene34899， gene58924， gene2145 and gene16681） showed significant expression changes during flower development. These genes were found to be highly expressed from St2 to St4 in WT but barely expressed in later stages. Their expression was up-regulated in cb1 mutant， corresponding to the peak level at early stages of flower development in WT. Another ARF gene， gene70445 presented higher expressing levels during whole flower development in cb1 mutants than WT plants. We also found that the promoter regions of these six ARF genes contained cis-acting elements recognized by AP2/ERF， MIKC_MADS and LFY， suggesting that they might be regulated by AP2/ERF， MIKC_MADS and LFY family genes during meristem transformation and floral organogenesis. The obtained results could provide important clue for further exploring the biological function and molecular regulatory mechanisms of ARF genes in flower development of sunflower， becoming valuable in future sunflower varieties breeding.