Officer training in Finland goes back to 1779, when Georg Magnus Sprengtporten proposed to Gustav III that a military school would be founded in Rantasalmi.

This initial proposal was for an institute providing relatively short, 6 to 9 months long, courses that would be mandatory for all officers who had obtained three years of practical experience.

[8] An effort to found a War College was renewed in 1922, with both Harald Öhquist and the board of the Jäger Union [fi] approaching the Chief of Defence about general staff officer education.

As a result, in April 1923, the government appointed a three-man committee to study a potential War College.

[13] A separate military decree by the president, also signed on 3 October 1924, appointed Colonel Aarne Sihvo as the head of the War College.

However, because Sihvo was at the time studying in Italy, the task was first taken up by the inspector of artillery, Major General Vilho Petter Nenonen.

[14] The first cohort of 34 students began their studies on 3 November 1924 in the old barracks of the Uusimaa Sharpshooter Battalion, at Liisankatu 1, Helsinki.

[15] The initial teaching staff was largely from abroad (namely Sweden, Italy, France and England), with Finns (other than Martola) acting only as hourly teachers.

[17] In late 1920s, it was observed that the amount of graduates would be wholly insufficient for the needs of the Finnish Defence Forces even in peace-time.

The college remained closed to the end of the Finnish participation in World War II.

This first intake of students deviated from the norm in that the participants were detailed into the school without having to take an entrance exam.

This division was again modified in 1949, organizing the students under two sections (general and military technical) which contained various lines of study.

[29] In 1960, the War College began organizing national defence courses [fi], the first of which was held in 1961.

[30] These approximately three-week courses, attended by top decision makers of the Finnish society, discuss "timely issues relevant to Finnish security policy and national defence"[31] with a goal of "improving the co-operation of various sectors of the society during emergency conditions".

[35] Starting from 1968, general staff officers who had completed their general staff studies at least five years prior were offered 8-week courses aimed to give their participants the prerequisite skills to act as, for example, commander of an independent units or as a head of division in the Defence Command.

[39] A revised organizational structure was approved by the President of Finland in July 1992,[41] and came to effect on 1 January 1993.

[39][43][42] The merger process drew the attention of the Chancellor of Justice, when it came to light that the Ministry of Defence had formally disestablished the existing schools without waiting for the relevant law on the new institute to pass the parliament.

[45] In 1949, the anniversary of the War College was modified to be 15 January, based on the date of the first general staff officer course starting.

The badge shows a silver sword, tip upwards, overlaid on a three-towered golden crenelated castle symbolizing Nyenschantz.

The castle stands on silver waves with a background of enamel, symbolizing steel armor plate.

It depicted a golden Lion of Finland (absent roses) on a purplish red field, with the castle-and-sword icon of the course badge (in gold and silver) in the upper left corner.