The LuVO4:Ln3+ (Ln3+ = Eu, Dy, and Sm) nano/microcrystals with different shapes were synthesized through a simple hydrothermal route assisted by trisodium citrate (Na3Cit). X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL), and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra were employed to characterize the samples. A series of controlled experiments indicate that the shape and size of as-prepared architectures can be tuned effectively by controlling the reaction conditions, such as vanadium sources, different organic additives, the content of organic additive trisodium citrate (Cit(3-)), and reaction time. It is found that Cit(3-) as a ligand and shape modifier has the dynamic effect by adjusting the growth rate of different facets under different experimental conditions, resulting in the formation of various geometries of the final products. The possible formation mechanisms for products with diverse architectures have been presented in detail. The Ln3+ ions doped LuVO4 sample exhibit respective bright red, orange and green-yellow luminescence of Eu3+, Sm3+, and Dy3+ under ultraviolet excitation and low-voltage electron beam excitation. The ability to generate LuVO4 nano/microstructures with diverse shapes, and multicolor emission provides a great opportunity for systematically evaluating their luminescence properties, as well as fully exploring their applications in many types of color display fields.