Sulfur cosmos has been used in Mexico, Central and South Americas since pre-Colombian times. The flower heads were used as a popular yellow dye for domestic textile production. Today the practice continues as a hobby or for textile crafts, to dye wool bright yellow or orange.
In China, the species has been used in traditional medicine for centuries due to its anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties as well as for the treatment of gastric ulcers, liver inflammation and arthritis.