Stitching together Guatemala and Japan

I went shopping for second-hand treasures the other day wearing striped denim I bought second-hand in Guatemala last year. I have a hunch the previous owner was not wearing them as high-waisted culottes. 

I had to repair this rectangle near the hem which had been mysteriously snipped out. Inspired by Japanese sashiko stitching techniques, I used embroidery floss and a scrap of denim from a pair of middle school jeans I keep around to cut up for repairs and patches like this one. 

However, the embroidery on the pack pockets is all from the previous owner. Whatever does that symbol mean?

LF