The Virginia Council was a colonial-era advisory board that first arose as a way for colonists to manage their day-to-day affairs in the Jamestown colony without needed to wait for word from England. In 1725 when Virginia became a royal colony, the council became an official advisory board for the governor and also acted as the highest court within the colony. After 1643 the council also functioned as the upper house of Virginia's colonial assembly.

The Virginia Council usually had about twelve members, most of which were prominent planters or politicians nominated by the king. The council had power to make decrees and grant land, and in the absence of the governor, the most senior member of the council assumed leadership of the colony.

With the arrival of the American Revolution in 1776, the council waned in importance and the body's duties were later split amongst the state governor's cabinet, the state court system, and the upper house of the state legislature.