Identity of Members of the Order of Eight

The number eight is commonly used as a secret symbol by members of the Order of Eight . They tend to attach this symbol to common objects they wear, be it bracers, armor, necklaces, or earrings.
Members of the Order need to know who else are members, and they often look to those items worn by other members.
Even the apprentices and others who work for the Order wear the number. As such this prevents the main 9 members from being directly recognized versus the others who work for them.
As such, many people started wearing the stylized 8 that it has become and actual styling decoration, even by those who are not members. Many people in high society noticed the 8 being worn and started to adorn their own items with the 8.
This has made it very difficult for the Order to use over time as the symbol became more common as a decoration. As this started to become more and more of a problem, the order would use various phrases that could be spoken with a return passphrase to verify members. However changing the passphrase or code were nearly impossible and people had to start memorizing several different codes.
Eventually the Order began using a necklace or bracer only, with the color of the object signifying the rank of the member. More recently they have begun to embed a purple gem into the necklace in addition to the color of the bracer or necklace as a unique key as to the importance of the person.
The Order has discussed using another method or other to identify members. One idea is to change to a totally different symbol like a seven, eight, or nine pointed star. Or possibly there might be a plan to use a symbol of the Karenthian Batteries as a symbol. Another option, if the Mages Guild could handle it, would be to create a magic item that could be used to identify.