To promote the application of aeolian sand resources for steel-concrete composite structures, an aeolian sand reinforced concrete column with I-shaped structural steel is proposed in this study. Four specimens are designed and manufactured with different replacement rates of aeolian sand. The seismic behaviour and damage evolution process of the specimens are studied by low-cycle repeated loading tests. Based on the test results, the mechanical characteristics, failure modes, hysteresis curves, skeleton curves, energy dissipation capacity, displacement ductility, and stiffness degradation of the specimens with different replacement rates of aeolian sand are analysed. In addition, the effects of the design parameters on the seismic behaviour of the specimens are also studied. The results show that the indexes of the seismic behaviour can be significantly improved by adding steel. Moreover, a revised damage model is proposed, to better reflect the evolution law of seismic damage of aeolian sand reinforced concrete columns with steel. The proposed model can provide an important reference for seismic damage assessment of the columns.