As the confining materials, the fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) composite materials have been extensively studied and applied in composite columns, such as FRP concrete steel double skin tubular columns, FRP confined concrete filled steel tubular columns and FRP confined concrete encased steel columns. The existing researches about the three kinds of composite columns were reviewed and discussed. The significance and inadequate of these studies were presented. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the three composite columns were analyzed. Then the mechanical characteristics and the interaction mechanism among the three kinds of materials were studied. By comparing the mechanical properties of different sections, the combining effect of different materials is revealed. There are a large number of experimental researches for FRP steel concrete composite columns. However, theoretical research is insufficient. In the future researches, it should be based on the combinational theoretical analysis and experimental study to thoroughly analyze the composite columns. Furthermore, the rational section design for FRP steel concrete composite columns should be studied, based on the effective combination of three kinds of materials to improve the mechanical properties of the FRP steel concrete composite columns.