The division of points means that Ibrox Boss Alex McLeish finishes his League record against Celtic just as he began it - with a draw.
Rangers went into this fixture fully aware that with the result of the Edinburgh Derby yesterday they had the opportunity to reduce Hearts' lead in the race for second place to just two points
Alex McLeish made one change from Aberdeen's visit to Ibrox with Gavin Rae, making his first start since April 2004, replacing the injured Barry Ferguson.
The visiting support were in magnificent voice, going through the full gambit of their loyal repertoire with 'GOD SAVE THE QUEEN', 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOUR MAJESTY', AND 'RULE BRITANNIA' resounding around the breezeblock ground.
The first chance of the game arrived in nine minutes when John Hartson sliced wide a Maciej Zurawski flick folowing a Mark Wilson cross.
Celtic were making the running - and Shaun Maloney brought out a superb one-handed save from Ronald Waterreus, palming away a 25-yard free-kick awarded following an Alan Hutton error in twenty minutes.
Sixty seconds later Zurawski was through on a Maloney pass only to see Waterreus block his effort.
Referee Craig Thomson, in charge of his first 'Old Firm' game, produced his first yellow card of the afternoon in 38 minutes for dissent against Neil Lennon following a foul on Chris Burke. Having been spoken to earlier for the same offence, the Celtic captain could have no complaints.
Immediately afterwards Kris Boyd netted from a Burke pass, only for the goal to be chalked off for a marginal offside decision.
The half ended goalless, but Rangers should have broken the deadlock two minutes after the restart when a Dado Prso cutback found Burke right in front of goal only for the winger to blast the ball over the bar.
Artur Boruc kept his side on level terms in 49 minutes with a point-blank save from a Dado Prso header following a Rae cross, turning the Light blue captain's effort onto a post.
Roy Keane departed the scene on the hour, being replaced by Shunsuke Nakamura.
Two minutes later Shaun Maloney saw his twenty-yard drive from a Wilson lay-off turned wide by Waterreus, then the Dutch goalkeeper held Nakamura's 25-yard effort from Paul Telfer's lay-off.
Rangers however continued to have the upper hand, with Burke testing Boruc in 77 minutes with a twenty-yard shot that the Polish goalkeeper held.
In the dying seconds Moses Ashikodi substituted for Burke, the English youngster making his first-team debut and going down in the history books as the second Moses to play for the club.
The game ended goalless, and afterwards Alex McLeish reflected:
"It was frustrating to miss good chances. I was pleased we made a real fist of it. It was a terrific performance except in terms of finishing. 'Old Firm' games are brilliant occasions. I've relished every minute of these games, but it's different when you lose. The Rangers supporters were magnificent today."
Celtic Manager Gordon Strachan was honest enough to admit:
"We were a wee bit fortunate today."
CELTIC Boruc; Telfer, McManus, Varga, Wilson; Petrov, Lennon, Keane (Nakamura 60), Maloney (McGeady 80); Zurawski, Hartson (Dublin 84)
UNUSED SUBS Marshall, Thompson, Pearson, Wallace
RANGERS Waterreus; Hutton, Kyrgiakos, Rodriguez, Smith; Burke (Ashikodi 90), G. Rae, Hemdani, Prso; Buffel, Boyd (Novo 69)
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Andrews, A. Rae, Malcolm, Murray
REFEREE Craig Thomson
Attendance 59,684