The 8th Finance Battalion was originally consituted in the Regular Army as 8th Finance Company on 15 March 1971 in the Regular Army and assigned to the 8th Infantry Division, with activation coming a few weeks later on 21 February 1973. On 16 March 1984, the unit was reorganized and redesignated as 8th Finance Center and concurrently released from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division. It was subsequently redesignated the 8th Finance Support Unit on 16 October 1988 following reorganization, a process that was repeated on 16 July 1994 to create the 8th Finance Battalion.
On 16 July 2008, the Army held a ceremony to inactivate the last Finance brigade in the Army, the 266th Finance Command. The 8th Finance Battalion was also inactivated during that ceremony, but the detachments comprising the Battalion remained in the communities they were serving but with the 208th Finance Command as their command.
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Nicknamed “High Rollers” and with a motto of “Iron Finance,” the 8th Finance Battalion wore a Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest, or DUI for short) that had been approved on 27 February 1995. In the very center of the insignia is an gold diamond (lozenge) with silver border; gold and silver are Finance Corps branch colors and the lozenge is taken from the branch insignia. Behind the lozenge are crossed hammers superimposed on a flame; this is an allusion to the working of iron into usable tools, a reference to the motto.
The Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
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.