Abstract. We propose a multi-agent based Distributed Hybrid algorithm for the Graph Coloring Problem (DH-GCP). DH-GCP applies a tabu search procedure with two different neighborhood structures for its intensification. To diversify the search into unexplored promising regions, two crossover operators and two types of perturbation moves are performed. All these search components are managed by a multi-agent model which uses reinforcement learning for decision making. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated on well-known DIMACS benchmark instances.