In a color cathode ray tube, a shadow mask is stretched on a mask frame and the mask frame is supported on a peripheral inner surface of a skirt of a panel by an elastic deformable plate member. The elastic deformable plate member is formed by bending a metal plate and has a straight plate section with a predetermined analge alpha defined by the following inequality. tan ( alpha )>( alpha m/ alpha f) tan (90- beta ) where beta is an angle formed by a tube axis and one of the electron beams which passes through effective one of apertures of the shadow mask, said one of the apertures being closest to the plate member, and alpha m and alpha f are thermal expansion coefficients of the shadow mask and mask frame, respectively. |