Gold by the German arrangement (5)
I believe the answer is:
order
'arrangement' is the definition.
(I know that order is a type of arrangement)
'gold by the german' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the german' becomes 'der' ('the' in German).
'or'+'der'='ORDER'
(Other definitions for order that I've seen before include "Direct or requisition" , "American helping" , "Command; sequence" , "One of Great Lakes" , "Issue a command" .)