Porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) films, due to their excellent dielectric, mechanical, and optical properties, have been widely used in electronic devices, catalytic supports, and optical materials. Anodization is the primary method for fabricating high-quality porous AAO films. The conductive behavior and mechanism of commonly used carbon rod counter electrodes are significant factors influencing the microstructure and properties of the films. In this study, a phosphoric acid solution with a mass fraction of 6% is used as the electrolyte, circular aluminum foil serves as the anode, and carbon rods are used as the counter electrodes spaced 15 cm apart. The oxidation time is fixed at 40 s. The conductive behaviors of the carbon rod under oxidation voltages ranging from 100 to 140 V are experimentally investigated. The results show that the pore depth and diameter of the AAO film symmetrically decrease from the film center toward the edges. When the oxidation voltage is below 110 V, the gradients of pore depth and diameter from the center outward are relatively small, resulting in a macroscopically uniform structural color. At an oxidation voltage of 110 V, the gradients of pore depth and diameter increase significantly, resulting in iridescent concentric ring structural colors. As the voltage increases further, the gradients become more pronounced, the number of structural color rings increases, and the visible color gamut significantly broadens. Electromagnetic and electrochemical theories are utilized to calculate the conductive behaviors of the carbon rod under different oxidation voltages and to analyze its conduction mechanism. The carbon rod is found to exhibit “quasi-point electrode” conductive characteristics, with the selection of point electrode positions on the carbon rod following the principle of minimizing the resistance between the two electrodes. This finding not only enriches the electrochemical theory of anodization but also provides theoretical and experimental support for fabricating multifunctional AAO films.