Emmanuel College Highlanders at UQ Pipe Band is based at Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, in Brisbane. The college itself is a residential community on UQ’s St Lucia campus, and its pipe band tradition began in 1998, when Emmanuel founded a university-wide pipe band.

The present band was formed in 2016 through the merger of The University of Queensland Pipe Band at Emmanuel College and the Queensland Highlanders Pipe Band. That merger brought together a university-linked band and one of Queensland’s strongest competitive pipe band organisations.

The Queensland Highlanders side of the story gives the band serious pedigree. Queensland Highlanders were formed in 1996, won the World Pipe Band Championships Grade 2 title in 2001, and later won the Australian Pipe Band Championships in Grade 1 in 2004 before merging into the Emmanuel College Highlanders identity in 2016.

Today, Emmanuel College Highlanders at UQ continues as a Brisbane competition and performance band, connected to the university and wider community rather than limited only to students. It also remains part of Brisbane’s ceremonial pipe band scene, including Anzac-related activity.