Also known as a unit crest, the 116th Military Intelligence Brigade Distinctive Unit Insignia was first approved for the 116th Military Intelligence Group on 31 December 1968 and was given its current designation on 16 October 2015 and amended to update the symbolism and description. VIGIL PROMPTUSQUE, a Latin phrase that means “Watchful And Ready,” is the motto seen on the DUI of Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 116th Military Intelligence Group. Inside the dark red outer border, which upon closer inspection is actually a military belt, is an oriental blue disc with a demi-sun at the top streaming rays downward; it is taken from the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the U.S. Army Intelligence Command (USAINTC). The sun and rays represent enlightenment and knowledge and also denote the fact that this Group served under USAINTC.
Encircling the blue disc is a military belt symbolizing the band of security that Military Intelligence provides to the Army and joint forces. In the center is the Washington Monument, instantly associated with the District of Columbia—the location where the 116th Military Intelligence Group was first activated in 1946 and the area of its first assignment.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
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The 116th Military Intelligence Brigade was originally constituted as the 116th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment in the Army of the United States on 10 May 1946 and activated at the end of the month. Allotted to the Regular Army in March 1951, the unit was reorganized and redesignated on 26 June 1959 as the 116th Counter Intelligence Corps Group and then redesignated a little over two years later as the 116th Intelligence Corps Group.
Redesignated as the 116th Military Intelligence Group in October 1966, the unit was inactivated on 9 January 1973 and would remain so until it was redesignated in February 1999 as the HQ and HQ Detachment, 116th Military Intelligence Group and activated in June 2000 at Fort Gordon, Georgia. It was inactivated on 30 September 2009 and then, nearly five years later, reorganized as HQ and HQ Company (HHC), 116th Military Intelligence Brigade in August 2014—but it was not reactivated until 16 October 2016.