Abstract: Against the backdrop of the deepening implementation of the Holistic Approach to National Security and the continuous advancement of national defense education in colleges and universities in the new era, college students’ national defense literacy gradually became an important research topic in the field of national defense education. In response to the prominent issues in existing research at that time, such as inconsistent conceptual definitions, ambiguous structural dimensions, and underdeveloped evaluation systems, this study employed methods including literature reviews, conceptual analysis, and theoretical deduction to systematically sort out the conceptual evolution of “military literacy”, “national defense quality” and “national defense literacy”, thereby clarifying the connotation and extension of college students’ national defense literacy. On this basis, in conjunction with Weinert’s theoretical framework of literacy, this study divided college students’ national defense literacy into four dimensions, namely national defense knowledge, national defense psychology, national defense capability and national defense behavior, and constructed a corresponding multidimensional evaluation system. This study held certain theoretical and practical significance for promoting the transformation of college national defense education from knowledge imparting to literacy cultivation and for improving the evaluation system of college students’ national defense literacy.