In order to further improve the property of light emitting diode, the development of trichromatic phosphors is very crucial. In this paper, Ba₃Y_1-x(BO₃)₃∶xTb³⁺ phosphors were synthesized by high temperature solid state reaction method. The phase composition was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, the luminescent properties were studied by excitation-emission spectra, CIE 1931 chromatic coordinate and fluorescence lifetime. The results show that the crystalline structure of Ba₃Y(BO₃)₃ is not changed obviously by doped by Tb³⁺, which indicate that Y³⁺ is replaced by Tb³⁺ in the crystal. The maximum peak of Ba₃Y_1-x(BO₃)₃∶xTb³⁺ phosphors locate at 543 nm after excited by a wavelength of 283 nm ultraviolet light. The luminescence intensity of the phosphors increases firstly and then decreases with the increase of Tb³⁺ doping concentration at 543 nm. The luminescence intensity of sample is the greatest when the Tb³⁺ doping concentration is 6% (mole fraction). Meanwhile, the energy transfer style between two Tb³⁺ is dipole-dipole interaction. After calculation, the colour purity of Ba₃Y_1-x(BO₃)₃∶xTb³⁺ (x=0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.10) phosphors are all more than 92% and their colour temperature are all in 5 000 to 6 000 K, which show that the Ba₃Y_1-x(BO₃)₃∶xTb³⁺ phosphors are green phosphors suitable for ultraviolet light excitation, and they may have potential applications in solid state lighting.