Sikh constable makes history, leads Vancouver cop band at Edinburgh parade

A Sikh constable in Canada’s Vancouver Police Department has hit the headlines as the first turbaned Sikh drum major to lead the march at the 2026 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which celebrates the skills and talents of military bands and cultural performers from around the world, in Scotland.

Constable Sukhvinder ‘Suki’ Singh Sunger of the Vancouver Police Department led the Vancouver Police Pipe Band onto the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade as drum major during the 2026 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. He has been hailed on the internet as the first turbaned Sikh to hold that role at the event.

The Edinburgh Tattoo, themed ‘A Call to Gather’, ran from August 7 to 29 and featured massed pipes and drums from multiple nations. Sunger, appearing at the Tattoo for the first time, directed the Canadian band during its fourth appearance at the annual spectacle.

He wore the band’s traditional Highland dress—tartan kilt and accoutrements—paired with a matching turban rather than the conventional feather bonnet. The Canadian publication ‘Darpan’ mentions Sunger as being raised in Victoria, British Columbia.

The profile of Sunger published in the magazine says he began his policing career as a reserve constable with the Victoria Police Department before joining the Vancouver Police Department in 2002. He holds a diploma in criminal justice and has served more than two decades with the Vancouver Police Department, primarily as a traffic enforcement officer.

Sunger also completed a deployment as a United Nations peacekeeper in South Sudan. The Vancouver Police Pipe Band, founded in 1914, is the oldest continuously serving non-military pipe band in British Columbia and functions as the official band of the City of Vancouver.

Sunger joined around 2018-2019 as its first Sikh member and first person of colour. He initially played tenor drum and later incorporated the Punjabi dhol. In December 2025, the band elected him drum major for a three-year term.

In 2019, he took part in the band’s tour of India to mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The group performed at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Guru Nanak Dev University, and other sites in Punjab. During those concerts, Sunger switched between the Scottish tenor drum and the dhol, including an arrangement of ‘Sare Jahan Se Accha’.

He had first visited Jallianwala Bagh on a personal trip in 2004 and later set a reminder to return for the 100th anniversary. The band has previously performed at Buckingham Palace, the Basel Tattoo, and other international venues.

Social media coverage of the Tattoo performances highlighted both the visual contrast of Sunger’s turban and beard with Highland dress and the precision of the drill.