I have a small icon at the top right of my screen on an iphone 4G looks like a lock with a circle 3/4 of the way around it...what is this and how dod I get rid of it?

That icon indicates your iPhone is rotation locked.

To remove it, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center. Tap the similar looking icon there to turn it off.

That is your screen orientation lock. Swipe up from the bottom of the phone to get the control center, then tap the lock icon to unlock it.

As others have said, it's the portrait orientation lock. See p. 13 and 23 of the iPhone User Guide.

That's the "rotation lock" icon.

See here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3805

Thanks just what I needed short and to the point. Thanks for taking the time to post the answer to this question even if it was in 2014