A gold sea lion superimposed over alternately colored lozenges and lightning flashes forms the focal point of the 78th Signal Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, often called a “unit crest” or a DUI. A Philippine sun forms the background for the device, and in combination with the sea lion—adapted from the seal of the President of the Philippines—commemorates the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation the Battalion was awarded in World War II during the Luzon campaign. The alternating colors of the lozenges and flashes refer to the versatility of the Battalion and its heritage of circuit switching and patching. “Never Bettered” is the Battalion motto adopted when the insignia was approved 8 February 1968.
The 78th Signal Battalion was first constituted as the 318th Coast Artillery Barrage Balloon Battalion in the Army of the United States on 26 August 1942. Activated 10 December 1942 in Tennessee, it was reorganized and redesignated four times before the war ended, as the 318th Antiaircraft Balloon Battalion, Low Altitude; 318th Antiaircraft Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude; 78th Signal Light Construction Battalion; and 78th Signal Heavy Construction Battalion.
Inactivated in August 1946, the unit would be given its current designation two decades later when it was designated as the 78th Signal Battalion on 20 July 1966 and allotted to the Regular Army. It was inactivated in January 1971, then redesignated and reactivated as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 78th Signal Battalion on 16 October 1992. On October 12, 2012, 78th Signal Battalion assumed control of all Army Signal duties in Japan when the Okinawa-based 58th Signal Battalion was inactivated.
As of Summer 2023, it remains assigned to U.S. Army Japan and is stationed at Camp Foster in southern Okinawa, Japan.