Founded in 1963, the Mandarins organization has long been known for blending Asian traditions with drum corps. The corps has been a DCI World Champion in its class eight times, including an unmatched string of four titles as a Division III unit between 1996 and 1999. Mandarins started competing as a World Class corps in 2003 and earned a spot as a DCI World Championship finalist for the very first time in 2018.