The 578th Engineer Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, or unit crest, was originally approved for the 132nd Armored Engineer Battalion on 20 December 1954 and was redesignated for the 132nd Engineer Battalion on 23 February 1961. Rescinded in February 1975, the insignia was reinstated and redesignated on 14 August 1998 for the 578th Engineer Battalion. Red and white (silver), the branch colors of the Corps of Engineers, are featured almost exclusively on the 578th Engineer Battalion DUI. A Lorraine cross is a symbol of battle honors awarded the unit’s service in that region of France during World I, while the buff (gold) fleur-de-lis for service as a Quartermaster unit in World War II. A blue horizontal bar represents Korean War service (the blue is taken from the Korean Service Medal ribbon), and the Arrowhead is an allusion to participation in an assault landing in Africa. AEDIFICATE AD PUGNANDUM is the unit mott, a Latin phrase that translates into English as “Build To Fight.”
Distinctive Unit Insignias are worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.The 578th Engineer Battalion was originally organized on 12 October 1916 as Company B, 1st Battalion of Engineers in the California National Guard. Drafted into service in August 1917, it was reorganized and redesignated as Company E, 117th Engineers, an element of the 42nd Division. The unit would be reorganized and Federally recognized as Company C, 115th Quartermaster Regiment, an element of the 40th Division, in April 1937. During World War II it would be relieved from assignment to the 40th Division and then reorganized and redesignated as the 184th Quartermaster Depot Company before serving in the European Theater, where it was inactivated on 2 May 1946 in Germany.
It was given its current numerical designation in 1947 when the 578th Engineer Combat Battalion was created through its consolidation with two other units, a Quartermaster Battalion and Transportation Corps Truck Company; the consolidated unit was an element of the 40th Infantry Division. Deployed to Korea in 1952 with the 40th Infantry Division, the was inactivated in 1953 and was subsequently redesignated as the 132nd Armored Engineer Battalion in 1954 and then the 132nd Engineer Battalion in 1961. It reverted back to the 578th Engineer Battalion in 1998 and was inactivated for an undetermined period of time before it was reactivated as the 578th Brigade Engineering Battalion on 14 June 2014.