75 Years of Command and Staff College, Quetta (September 18, 1980)

The institution now known as the Command and Staff College Quetta, was established on 1st July, 1905, at Deolali, India, and was named as ‘Indian Staff College’. In 1907 the College moved to Quetta and in 1 908 its name was changed to ‘Staff College Quetta’.
Being the premier institution of the Pakistan Army, the Staff College embodies the hopes and aspirations of members of its land forces, and indeed of the entire nation. Ever-since its inception the College has been discharging admirably its honourable mission of training officers for command and staff assignments.
Some of the outstanding personalities of international repute who have served in the College as instructors or were trained as students are Field Marshals Montgomery, Auchinleck, Slim, Blarney (Australia) Arif (Iraq), Muhammad Ayub Khan. General Lord lsmay, General Muhammad Musa Khan, General A.M. Yahya Khan, and General M. Zia-ul-Haq.
The Owl and the Cross Swords with the Persian inscription “Pir Sho Beyamoz Saadi” was the emblem of the College from 1905 to 1979. The Owl was symbolic of wisdom and the Swords were those of Mars, the Roman god of War.
In the new emblem which was adopted on 4th July, 1979 the owl has been replaced by the word Iqra symbolizing the first Command of the Almighty to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), meaning “Read in the name of Lord” and the Swords have been Islamized in shape and size. The Persian inscription on the Crest, however, stays in the New Emblem.
The old Building of College was an imposing and majestic structure reminiscent of the old world grandeur. It was, however, damaged by Quetta earthquake of 1935, and it was decided to rebuild the Staff College in earthquake-proof-construction.
The new Building designed by M/s. Tajuddin M. Bahamani has three main sections, i.e. the Main Building, the Model rooms and the Auditorium and is protected against seismic disturbances. in design the building has an absolutely new form which signifies the past. The design is octagonal, with different modulus and crystal forms in elevational treatment, which produce a bold and strong effect worthy of the Institution. In order to retain certain features of the Old Building, the New Building also has a clock-tower with dials on three sides. The flag post rests a top the clock-tower. The stepped-garden in front of the Building and the vast podium depict Moghul Architecture.
To Mark the 75th Anniversary of this unique institution Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rupee One value on the 18th September, 1980 to coincide with its Jubilee Celebrations.