H1 And H2 Tags

Hi folks,
I'm new to the forum but not new to SEO. I'm working on a new site which has lots and lots of content with lots of headings and sub-headings on each page. Most of the pages on this site are set up in a multi-column format with the text content placed in three separate columns on each page. I know that there should only be one H1 tag per page, however, I'd like to use a heading at the top of each of the three columns which looks the same for aesthetic reasons (in font size and style). From what I've learned over the years, it's not good practice to use more than one H1 tag on any single page. So I would like to use H2 tags after the first use of the H1 tag since each of the column headings are of fairly big importance to the search engines. In other words, the first column of text would have an H1 tag at the very top. And then column two and three would both have H2 tags at the very top of each column. Each heading tag at the top of each column would look the same in font size and style through CSS.

I could set up a CSS class which "looks" similar to the H1 tag but then the search engines wouldn't read this class as being as important as an H2 tag (hopefully, you know what I'm getting at). So my question is this: can I use the exact same font size and style for both H1 and H2 (and even H3) tags or is this bad practice? Or, can you actually use more than just one H1 tag on a page? From what I've been reading lately, many say that you *can* do this without being penalized. I'm a bit confused. Some sites say that as long as you don't "spam" your H1 tags (filled with keywords), it is okay to use more than one H1 tag on a page. I don't know if I quite agree with this because what I *myself* may see as "not" spamming a search engine may be seen differently by the search engines themselves.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? I see a number of local web development companies using the exact same font size and style for H1, H2 and H3 tags but I don't know if this is good practice or not. I am very webmaster guideline-oriented and don't want to do anything to jeopardize my client's site (or our reputation).
Thanks so much, Howard

Is this perhaps a difficult question or maybe I posted it in the wrong forum? Sorry if should have posted elsewhere. I'm just hoping that someone may be able to clarify for me that it is okay to use the same font size and style for H1, H2 and H3 tags. I know that H1 tags are helpful in terms of SEO but I've never run across a situation like this before with a multi-column format, I'm at a bit of a loss here. Any help from an expert would be much appreciated.
Howard

Who said there can only be one h1 tag per page?

(about the lack of answers..... it's because you've got a whole lot of words in there for such a simple question )

Cutts video on the use of H1s
I say no! But that's just me I think the H1 describes what's on the page. If you need more than 1 H1 to do that, build another page.