AbstractThe writer reviews the presently available lists of standard-velocity stars approved by IAU Commission 30 and suggests that the time has arrived for major revisions. Many of the currently adopted standards are known or suspected to be variable in velocity at the level of precision to which we can now work. The writer suggests that we need three levels of standards. Some half-dozen or so bright solar-type stars, visible from all major observatories, should be chosen as fundamental standards, after extensive testing by many observers in various places. A larger group of secondary standards, in various parts of the sky and of a wider range of spectral type and brightness, should be chosen for everyday use by observers working at moderate dispersions. Those stars in the current IAU lists not yet suspected of having variable velocities might form the nucleus of this group. Finally, reference stars should be chosen for special purposes (e.g. cross-correlation, objective-prism determinations) in consultation with the users of these techniques. Standards of accuracy for this last group of stars need not be so strict as for the others.