To provide a rubber composition for a canvas chafer having excellent rim chafing resistance, high durability, less heat build-up and excellent sheeting processability, and to provide a pneumatic tire using the composition.

This rubber composition for a canvas chafer contains: at least one kind selected from a group comprising butadiene rubber (a) containing 2.5-20 mass% 1,2-syndiotactic polybutadiene crystals, butadiene rubber (b) having a cis content of ≥90 mass%, and tin-modified butadiene rubber (c) that is obtained by polymerization with a lithium initiator, and has a tin-atom content of 50-3,000 ppm, a vinyl-bond amount of 5-50 mass%, and a molecular weight distribution of ≤2; and carbon black having a nitrogen adsorption specific surface area of 65-130 m²/g; wherein the total content of (a)-(c) is 40-90 mass% per 100 mass% rubber component, and the content of the carbon black is 50-75 pts.mass per 100 pts.mass rubber component.