Abstract: An aqueous coating composition comprising a resin in a water-soluble or water-dispersible form as a film-forming component, said resin being a copolymer of (A) a fatty acid-modified acrylic monomer comprising the reaction product of an unsaturated fatty acid having at least two non-conjugated double bonds with a hydroxyl-containing acrylic or methacrylic ester, (B) an .alpha.,.beta.-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, and (C) an unsaturated monomer having a Q value, determined by the Q-e theory, of at least 0.1.