12-14-2013, 05:52 PM
The Wikipedia article on the relevant album has a section about the symbols, with a number of references to printed sources. I also stumbled upon this article from The Straight Dope, which reiterates much of the same information.
In short, they wanted to release their fourth album anonymously, so that it could be received without any preconceived notions about the band. Each member chose a symbol to represent themselves.
The origin or meaning of each symbol, in the same order as in the above image:
In short, they wanted to release their fourth album anonymously, so that it could be received without any preconceived notions about the band. Each member chose a symbol to represent themselves.
The origin or meaning of each symbol, in the same order as in the above image:
- Jimmy Page - an old symbol, possibly representing Saturn.
- John Paul Jones - meaning a confident, competent person, chosen from Rudolf Koch's Book of Signs.
- John Bonham - the triad of man, wife, and child, also chosen from Rudolf Koch's Book of Signs.
- Robert Plant - Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of justice and fairness, and the emblem of a writer.