I think any answer to this would be subjective. There's no specific answer because it was designed by Michael Okuda as something to represent rank. No further thought was behind it in official canon. Nothing official is mentioned about the logo on the official ST site article.

Quote from Memory Alpha (and I'm not claiming this to be the ultimate truth):

> The logo and tattoo was designed by Michael Okuda. According to production work from the first season of TNG, no chevron indicated a regular crewmember, one chevron indicated a salesman, third class; two chevrons were worn by salesmen, second class and three chevrons (the third one wider than the regular two) would have indicated a salesman, first class, similar to an assistant manager. The last version of the tattoo was never seen on the show. The first civilian (and therefore untattooed) Ferengi seen was Omag. All the Ferengi seen on DS9 were civilians and none of them wore tattoos."