Nicknamed the "Fighting Eagles," the 8th Infantry Regiment can trace its origins to 1838 and the constitution of the 8th Infantry in the regular Army and its subsequent organization in New York, Vermont, and Michigan in July of that year. In 1869, it was consolidated with the 33rd Infantry and designated the 8th Infantry. During World War I it was assigned to the 8th Infantry Division. From 1923 to 1957, it was assigned to the 4th Division (later 4th Infantry Division) until it was reorganized as a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS). It was withdrawn from CARS in 1984 and reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System, but did not receive its designation as the 8th Infantry Regiment until 1 October 2005. It currently comprises four Battalions.
The 8th Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), sometimes called a unit crest, was first approved on 25 November 1923, and its description was amended on 2 April 1925. On the bend are three stylized flowers that represent the rose (state flower of New York, where the Regiment was organized), hispida (a flower common in the Philippines, where the 8th fought during the Philippine Insurrecion), and temple flower (a flower of Cuba that represents the units service in the Spanish-American War). The tomahawk and arrow in the upper right symbolized the Regiment’s service during the Indian War, and the eagle’s claw in the lower left recalls the Prussian Eagle and the 8th Infantry’s selection to serve in the Army of Occupation in 1918. Curiously absent from the RDI is the unit motto of “PATRIAE FIDELITAS,” which is Latin for “Loyalty to Country.”
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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. For Enlisted personnel, the insignia is centered on a shoulder loop by placing it an equal distance from the outside shoulder seam to the outside edge of the shoulder-loop button. Officers (except Generals) wearing grade insignia on the shoulder loops center the DUI by placing it an equal distance between the inside edge of the grade insignia and the outside edge of the button.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."