It's only one letter, scarlet though it may be.

But if the Rockets have their way, the stylized, twin-tailed R unveiled Tuesday as the team's new logo will symbolize the city's NBA franchise as surely as the Celtics and Lakers have been represented for decades by their trademarks.

And at least the flying R will retire the Rockets' needle-nosed, snaggletoothed cartoon rocket to the fashion scrapheap where it belongs.

The Rockets unveiled the logo Tuesday as the first step of a redesign that will culminate in September with the debut of red and silver uniforms.

The rollout began about 10 days ago with a choreographed leak of 200 caps bearing the new logo to team employees and their friends. Another 800 caps will be distributed during the next two weeks as part of the Rockets' efforts to sell luxury suites in the new downtown arena.

The logo, which resembles a rocket's nose cone at the top and features twin exhaust trails at the bottom of the R, will show up on billboards next week, and it will play a role in the ticket sales campaign that will begin late this month.

And, come September, the logo will be available on caps, shirts, pins, bumper stickers and jackets leading to the uniform unveiling and the tipoff of the 2003-04 season.