The Symbol Behind Rush's Comeback Tour — Hugh Syme Explains Its Origin

Since the "Fifty Something" tour began in June it has been everywhere: on merchandise, in the backdrop videos and even on Anika Nilles' drum kit — an interlocking symbol whose meaning Rush fans have been debating ever since. Now Hugh Syme, the band's artistic collaborator for more than 50 years, has explained how it came about.

The brief came from Geddy Lee: he wanted a sign that referenced the number three — a recurring motif throughout Rush's history. Syme searched through Celtic imagery, among other sources, and landed on the interlocking design that now defines the tour. His first thought: it looked an awful lot like a hazardous-material symbol. Lee liked it anyway — so it was rendered in bronze, as a watercolour and as a riveted metal version. Only when the sign ended up on a coffee cup in a poster design did the pushback come: a hazard symbol on something you are about to drink from felt like an unfortunate combination.

The tour logo itself carries a hidden message, too. He needed an image that said: it's on again, someone has given it the green light, Syme explains — which is how the traffic light in the design came to be.

The "Fifty Something" tour is Rush's first in eleven years and their first since the death of drummer Neil Peart in 2020. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are joined by Anika Nilles on drums and keyboardist Loren Gold; dates in South America and Europe follow in 2027.

Source: BraveWords.