James Rodriguez recorded his sixth assist of an astonishing individual tournament as his corner towards the back post was headed in by Jefferson Lerma to give Colombia a first-half lead.
That turned out to be the difference on the night between Colombia and Uruguay in what was a frantic semi-final.
In the quarter-finals, Colombia thumped Panama 5-0, with Rodriguez continuing to pull the strings.
Argentina reached the showpiece event after a comfortable 2-0 win over Canada in their semi-final, with Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi getting on the scoresheet.
Their quarter-final was far more complicated. They had to rely once more on the heroics of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to get them over the line in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
Argentina are the joint most successful Copa América team of all time, lifting the trophy 15 times. Colombia have only been crowned champions once - all the way back in 2001 on home soil.
The Copa América 2024 final is set to take place at 20:00 local time in Miami, Florida on Sunday.