We present evidence of coverage-dependent band structure symmetry effects in scanning tunneling microscopy. We find that the symmetry of the Gd induced band located at about 2eV below the Fermi energy, at the surface Brillouin zone center, appears to be strongly dependent on the atomic structure in the bilayer regime for Gd on W(112). Light polarization dependent photoemission from this band indicates more d z 2 symmetry character for rectangular Gd structures and rather more d x z d y z character for the quasi hexagonal bilayer structure. Band symmetry changes accompanying the structural phase transition from rectangular to quasi-hexagonal Gd bilayer structures are consistent with arguments used to explain the apparent STM corrugation observed for Gd on W(112) (Surf Sci 520(2002)43).