The half-century-old war has left more than 220,000 people dead.
With a trumpet fanfare and a rendition of the Colombian national anthem, the disarmament deal has been signed in Cuba, where the peace talks were hosted.
The deal ends decades of fighting between the Colombian government and FARC rebels and sparked emotional celebrations back home on the streets of the capital Bogota.
Bogota resident Gloria Cuartas says she has known nothing but conflict in her country.
"I am 56 years old, and, of those, all the years have been lived with the backdrop of war. I'm so excited, and I have hopes that the younger generation can enjoy each day the value of life."
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos says the country has become accustomed to living with the horror of war, that it has become part of everyday life.
"Today, thankfully, with what has just been signed, we can turn the corner on the tragic and long page in our history. Today, a new chapter opens, one that brings back peace and allows us to begin to build up scar tissue on our wounds and that gives our children the possibility of not reliving history that has caused so much damage to our country."
Under the agreement, 7,000 rebel fighters will hand over their weapons when the peace accord is implemented.
FARC commander Rodrigo Londono, better known as Timochenko, was keen to stress it is no one-sided deal.
"What is about to be agreed upon is not a capitulation of the insurgency, as some obtuse people wanted, but, rather, the product of serious dialogue between two powers that fought each other for over half a century without one beating the other."
Cuban president Raul Castro says there is no turning back now in the peace process.
"The transcendental agreements announced by the table are getting us closer to the end of the armed conflict than at any time in the more than five decades that the Colombian people have suffered. The two sides' decision represents a decisive step forward."
And so the handshakes were made and the peace deal signed.
