The Distinctive Unit Insignia (also called a unit crest or DUI) of the 146th Signal Battalion, which had served as the 146th Expeditionary Signal Battalion for more than a decade, was originally approved for the 748th Armored Ordnance Battalion on 8 January 1957 and was redesignated for the 146th Signal Battalion on 4 February 1969. Crimson and yellow are the colors of the 748th Armored Ordnance Battalion; the pheon (arrow shape) and clarion (trumpet) represent battle honors the Battalion's founding units earned for service in New Guinea and the Southern Philippines. Additionally, the clarion issues clear, piercing sounds and is a form of signal transmission, a reference to the transition from Ordnance to Signal Corps. "Saints Of Service" is the Battalion motto.
Distinctive Unit Insignias 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.♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The 146th Expeditionary Signal Battalion was originally constituted in the Florida Army National Guard on 1 November 1952 as the 748th Ordnance Battalion, organized with existing units and assigned to the 48th Infantry Division. It was reorganized and redesignated as the 748th Armored Ordnance Battalion on 1 November 1955 and then as the 748th Ordnance Battalion on 15 April 1959. It was relieved from assignment to the 48th Armored Division and converted and redesignated as the 146th Signal Battalion on 15 February 1963; it is unclear when it was designated an Expeditionary Signal Battalion.
While the Battalion as whole has not earned any battle honors (campaign credits), some of the existing units used to organized the organization in 1952 units brought their campaign credits and military decorations with them. Its Headquarters Company was awarded two from World War II (one with an Arrowhead device for participating in an assault landing), and its C Company earned credit for three Asiatic-Pacific campaigns (one of them with an Arrowhead). B Company’s World War II Asiatic-Pacific campaign streamer is not inscribed with the name of a campaign or battle, indicating it was awarded for general contributions to the war effort in that theater.
World War II unit military decorations include the Philippine Presidential Unit citation for both Headquarters Company and C Company, the latter also being awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for action on Mindanao. In the War on Terrorism, the Battalion was issued a provisional Meritorious Unit Commendation on 14 December 2009 (Permanent Orders 351-10) for service in Iraq between 23 November 2008 and 19 September 2009, but that award is not official until final confirmation in Department of the Army General Orders.