Strange icon next to the power display

[elau]

My wife noticed an icon she never seen before showed up this evening on her iPad. The icon looks like a lock with a circular arrow around it. Have anyone seen this icon before and where is it coming from? Should it be something she should be concerned with? I know it is not much to go by and I want to thank you in advance for any assistance.

 

[eddieg]

That's the orientation lock.

 

[J. A.]

It means that the iPad will either stay in portrait or landscape mode, it is "locked" to one oriemtation.

This can happen if in Settings - General - Use Side Switch to "Lock Rotation" is check marked. If the side switch next to the volume button/s is set to the side where the red part under it is visible, this will be enabled.
The other possibility: if the side switch is used to mute the iPad, she might have touched the icon by chance in Control Center:

and now the symbol is white there. To disable the feature in this case, touch the icon once more, and the symbol next to the battery sign will also disappear.

Hope that helps.

 

[elau]

Thank you so much for everyone's input!!

 

[J. A.]

You're welcome.