The band was formed in 1935, when the RNZAF was still known as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force of the Royal Air Force of Britain. When it became an independent service in 1937, the band gave their first public engagement during a 1937 coronation parade. During World War II, the RNZAF band toured New Zealand to perform for airman and in 1944 toured the Pacific to increase the morale of Kiwi soldiers and air warfare forces in the Pacific War. In 1945, the band was disestablished, but was later re-formed in 1951 as a reservist unit. In 2012, it was one of three bands spared in the government cutback on military bands.