The so called "lesser pentagram" is actually a term derived from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. They taught a small (lesser ritual) which involved casting a circle and reciting specific holy names of god while circumscribing pentagrams in the air with a ritual dagger.
The pentagram itself is not lesser, just the ritual.
There is also a greater ritual of the pentagram, as well as lesser and greater rituals of the hexagram.