When Tabkit is active, the new tab icon changes into something a bit strange.
On my 4k display, it looks like a small dash:

On my 5k display, it looks like a flattened plus:

I don't seem to have any preference where I can change or choose the new tab icon.
The machine is an iMac retina 5k, with a secondary 4k monitor, OS X El-Capitan.