The club was founded in 2004 as Virumaa JK Rakvere. From 2008 until 2010, the club was named Rakvere FC Flora, and since 2011 Rakvere JK Tarvas. The club has competed in the Estonian top division Meistriliiga once, in 2016.
The club was founded in 2004 as Virumaa Jalgpalliklubi Rakvere (English: Virumaa Football Club Rakvere).[2] From 2008, Rakvere became affiliated with Flora and became Rakvere FC Flora. In 2011, the team name was changed to Tarvas (English: Aurochs), which is the symbol of Rakvere and is derived from the historic name of the town, Tarvanpea (Aurochs' head). In 2012, Tarvas was promoted to Esiliiga and finished the 2012 season in third place. The club faced JK Tallinna Kalev in the promotion play-offs, but lost 1–3 on aggregate. Tarvas finished the 2013 Esiliiga season in 4th place but were beaten in the promotion play-offs by Tartu Tammeka 2–6 on aggregate. In July 2014, Valeri Bondarenko was hired as manager.[3]
Rakvere Tarvas finished the 2015 Esiliiga season in 4th place and as the three higher placed teams were reserve teams and thus ineligible for promotion, Tarvas were promoted to the Meistriliiga for the first time in their history. In the process, they became the first club from Lääne-Viru County to play in the Estonian top division. Tarvas earned just 1 point in their first 14 Meistriliiga games and on 4 June 2016, Bondarenko was sacked and replaced as manager by Urmas Kirs. Tarvas earned another two draws and finished the season at the bottom of the table with three points. For the following three seasons, Rakvere Tarvas competed in Esiliiga, before being relegated to Esiliiga B for 2020 and eventually dropping down to the fourth tier in 2021.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^"Bondarenko maandus Tarvas" [Bondarenko lands in Tarvas] (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 3 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.