<PAGE>

                                                        Registration No. 333____
================================================================================

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                 --------------

                                    Form S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                                ----------------

                            Colgate-Palmolive Company
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

                  DELAWARE                               13-1815595
        (State or Other Jurisdiction          (IRS Employer Identification No.)
      of Incorporation or Organization)

       300 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y.                     10022
  (Address of Principal Executive Offices)              (Zip Code)


                               -------------------



                            COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY
                             1997 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full Title of the Plan)

                    ANDREW D. HENDRY, Senior Vice President,
                          General Counsel and Secretary
                            Colgate-Palmolive Company
                                 300 Park Avenue
                               New York, NY 10022
                     (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
                                  212-310-2239
          (Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)



                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
======================================== ================= ==================== ==================== ==============
                                                                 Proposed             Proposed
         Title of Securities to               Amount             Maximum               Maximum         Amount of
         be Registered                        To be          Offering Price           Aggregate       Registration
                                            Registered         Per Share (1)      Offering Price           Fee
---------------------------------------- ----------------- -------------------- -------------------- --------------
<S>                                      <C>                   <C>                <C>                  <C>
Common Stock, Par Value $1
Per Share.............................   37,000,000 shs        $49.8124           $1,843,058,800       $460,765
======================================== ================= ==================== ==================== ==============
</TABLE>

     (1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee in
accordance with Rule 457(h), based on the weighted average of the exercise
prices of the options to purchase Common Stock.

================================================================================


<PAGE>

                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.      Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference

         The following documents filed by the Company with the Commission under
the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 are incorporated in this registration
statement by reference:

         (1) The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2000.

         (2) The Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended
March 31, 2001 and June 30, 2001.

         (3) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 17, 1991 (Commission File
Number 1-644-2).

         All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, prior to the
filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered
have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall
be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to
be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Any statement
contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference
herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this
registration statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any
other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated
by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified and
superseded, to constitute a part of this registration statement.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

         The legality of the shares of the Company's Common Stock offered hereby
has been passed upon by Andrew D. Hendry, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
and Secretary of the Company. As of September 30, 2001, Mr. Hendry held 172,805
shares of Common Stock of the Company (either directly or held by the Savings
and Investment Plan trustee), 19,002 restricted shares of Common Stock of the
Company, 368,887 options to purchase shares of Common Stock of the Company, and
1,565 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company (held by the
Savings and Investment Plan trustee).

Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers

         Reference is made to Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the
State of Delaware (the "GCL"), which provides for indemnification of directors,
officers and other employees in certain circumstances, and to Section 102(b)(7)
of the GCL, which provides for the elimination or limitation of the personal
liability for monetary damages of directors under certain circumstances. Article
Tenth of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company, as amended,
eliminates the personal liability for monetary damages of directors under
certain circumstances and provides indemnification to directors, officers and
other employees of the Company to the fullest extent permitted by the GCL. The
Company has also executed indemnification agreements with the directors,
officers and certain other employees of the Company. Such indemnification
agreements contain provisions which purport to provide indemnification, where
not limited by applicable law, for amounts paid by such individuals in
settlement of shareholder derivative actions. Additionally, the Company
maintains customary directors' and officers' liability insurance.



                                       1

<PAGE>

Item 8.  Exhibits

         The exhibits to this registration statement are listed in the exhibit
index, which appears elsewhere herein and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.  Undertakings

     (a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

          (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
     made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

               (i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the
          Securities Act of 1933;

               (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
          after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most
          recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
          aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth
          in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any
          increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total
          dollar value of the securities offered would not exceed that which was
          registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the
          estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of
          prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in
          the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than
          a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth
          in the "Calculation of the Registration Fee" table in the effective
          registration statement;

               (iii) To include any material information with respect to the
          plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration
          statement or any material change to such information in the
          registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the
registration statement is on Form S-8, and the information required to be
included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant
pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are
incorporated by reference in the registration statement.

          (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
     Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed
     to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
     therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed
     to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

          (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
     any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
     termination of the offering.

     (b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     (c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities
Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of
the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission


                                       2

<PAGE>

such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is,
therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against
such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred
or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.



                                       3

<PAGE>

                                   SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration
statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York on this 26th day of
October, 2001.


                                            COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY
                                                 (The Registrant)


                                       By:   /s/     Reuben Mark
                                          --------------------------------------
                                       Reuben Mark, Chairman of the Board and
                                       Chief Executive Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration
statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the
date indicated.


<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                     Signature                                          Title                               Date
                     ---------                                          -----                               ----
<S>                                                   <C>                                           <C>
Principal Executive Officer and Director:

         /s/      Reuben Mark                         Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive        October 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------          Officer and Director
                  Reuben Mark

Principal Financial Officer:

     /s/   Stephen C. Patrick                         Chief Financial Officer                       October 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------
           Stephen C. Patrick

Principal Accounting Officer:

     /s/   Dennis J. Hickey                           Vice President and Corporate Controller       October 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------
           Dennis J. Hickey

Directors:

Jill K. Conway*                                                                                     October 26, 2001
Ronald E. Ferguson*
Ellen M. Hancock*
David W. Johnson*
Richard J. Kogan*
Howard B. Wentz, Jr.*

*By:  /s/  Andrew D. Hendry
    ----------------------------------------
           Andrew D. Hendry
           Attorney-in-Fact
</TABLE>




                                       4

<PAGE>

                              Index to Exhibits

5         Opinion of Andrew D. Hendry, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
          and Secretary of the Company.

23(a)     Consent of Andrew D. Hendry, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
          and Secretary of the Company (included in Exhibit 5).

23(b)     Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP, independent public accountants for the
          Company.

24        Powers of Attorney.






                                       5
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{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO", "cik": "0000021665", "assigned-sic": "2844", "irs-number": "131815595", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-72342", "film-number": "1768153"}, "business-address": {"street1": "300 PARK AVE", "city": "NEW YORK", "state": "NY", "zip": "10022", "phone": "2123102000"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "300 PARK AVE", "street2": "14TH FLOOR", "city": "NEW YORK", "state": "NY", "zip": "10022"}}
Registration No. 333____
================================================================================

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                 --------------

                                    Form S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                                ----------------

                            Colgate-Palmolive Company
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

                  DELAWARE                               13-1815595
        (State or Other Jurisdiction          (IRS Employer Identification No.)
      of Incorporation or Organization)

       300 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y.                     10022
  (Address of Principal Executive Offices)              (Zip Code)

                               -------------------

                            COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY
                             1997 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full Title of the Plan)

                    ANDREW D. HENDRY, Senior Vice President,
                          General Counsel and Secretary
                            Colgate-Palmolive Company
                                 300 Park Avenue
                               New York, NY 10022
                     (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
                                  212-310-2239
          (Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)

                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
======================================== ================= ==================== ==================== ==============
                                                                 Proposed             Proposed
         Title of Securities to               Amount             Maximum               Maximum         Amount of
         be Registered                        To be          Offering Price           Aggregate       Registration
                                            Registered         Per Share (1)      Offering Price           Fee
---------------------------------------- ----------------- -------------------- -------------------- --------------
Common Stock, Par Value $1
Per Share.............................   37,000,000 shs        $49.8124           $1,843,058,800       $460,765
======================================== ================= ==================== ==================== ==============
(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee in
accordance with Rule 457(h), based on the weighted average of the exercise
prices of the options to purchase Common Stock.

================================================================================
PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.      Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference

         The following documents filed by the Company with the Commission under
the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 are incorporated in this registration
statement by reference:

         (1) The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2000.

         (2) The Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended
March 31, 2001 and June 30, 2001.

         (3) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 17, 1991 (Commission File
Number 1-644-2).

         All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, prior to the
filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered
have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall
be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to
be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Any statement
contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference
herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this
registration statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any
other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated
by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified and
superseded, to constitute a part of this registration statement.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

         The legality of the shares of the Company's Common Stock offered hereby
has been passed upon by Andrew D. Hendry, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
and Secretary of the Company. As of September 30, 2001, Mr. Hendry held 172,805
shares of Common Stock of the Company (either directly or held by the Savings
and Investment Plan trustee), 19,002 restricted shares of Common Stock of the
Company, 368,887 options to purchase shares of Common Stock of the Company, and
1,565 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company (held by the
Savings and Investment Plan trustee).

Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers

         Reference is made to Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the
State of Delaware (the "GCL"), which provides for indemnification of directors,
officers and other employees in certain circumstances, and to Section 102(b)(7)
of the GCL, which provides for the elimination or limitation of the personal
liability for monetary damages of directors under certain circumstances. Article
Tenth of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company, as amended,
eliminates the personal liability for monetary damages of directors under
certain circumstances and provides indemnification to directors, officers and
other employees of the Company to the fullest extent permitted by the GCL. The
Company has also executed indemnification agreements with the directors,
officers and certain other employees of the Company. Such indemnification
agreements contain provisions which purport to provide indemnification, where
not limited by applicable law, for amounts paid by such individuals in
settlement of shareholder derivative actions. Additionally, the Company
maintains customary directors' and officers' liability insurance.

                                       1
Item 8.  Exhibits

         The exhibits to this registration statement are listed in the exhibit
index, which appears elsewhere herein and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.  Undertakings

     (a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

          (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
     made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

               (i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the
          Securities Act of 1933;

               (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
          after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most
          recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
          aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth
          in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any
          increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total
          dollar value of the securities offered would not exceed that which was
          registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the
          estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of
          prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in
          the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than
          a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth
          in the "Calculation of the Registration Fee" table in the effective
          registration statement;

               (iii) To include any material information with respect to the
          plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration
          statement or any material change to such information in the
          registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the
registration statement is on Form S-8, and the information required to be
included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant
pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are
incorporated by reference in the registration statement.

          (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
     Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed
     to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
     therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed
     to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

          (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
     any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
     termination of the offering.

     (b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     (c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities
Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of
the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission

                                       2
such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is,
therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against
such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred
or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.

                                       3
SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration
statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York on this 26th day of
October, 2001.

                                            COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY
                                                 (The Registrant)

                                       By:   /s/     Reuben Mark
                                          --------------------------------------
                                       Reuben Mark, Chairman of the Board and
                                       Chief Executive Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration
statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the
date indicated.
Signature                                          Title                               Date
                     ---------                                          -----                               ----
Principal Executive Officer and Director:

         /s/      Reuben Mark                         Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive        October 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------          Officer and Director
                  Reuben Mark

Principal Financial Officer:

     /s/   Stephen C. Patrick                         Chief Financial Officer                       October 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------
           Stephen C. Patrick

Principal Accounting Officer:

     /s/   Dennis J. Hickey                           Vice President and Corporate Controller       October 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------
           Dennis J. Hickey

Directors:

Jill K. Conway*                                                                                     October 26, 2001
Ronald E. Ferguson*
Ellen M. Hancock*
David W. Johnson*
Richard J. Kogan*
Howard B. Wentz, Jr.*

*By:  /s/  Andrew D. Hendry
    ----------------------------------------
           Andrew D. Hendry
           Attorney-in-Fact
4
Index to Exhibits

5         Opinion of Andrew D. Hendry, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
          and Secretary of the Company.

23(a)     Consent of Andrew D. Hendry, Senior Vice President, General Counsel
          and Secretary of the Company (included in Exhibit 5).

23(b)     Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP, independent public accountants for the
          Company.

24        Powers of Attorney.

                                       5