Saw excessive award overturned (5)
I believe the answer is:
motto
'saw' is the definition.
(saw can mean a proverb or saying)
'excessive award overturned' is the wordplay.
'excessive' becomes 'ott' (short for 'over the top').
'award' becomes 'OM' (order of merit).
'overturned' is a reversal indicator.
'ott'+'om'='ottom'
'ottom' in reverse letter order is 'MOTTO'.
(Other definitions for motto that I've seen before include "Saw" , "Brief guiding rule" , "Short sentence expressing an ideal" , "Part of coat of arms" , "Watchword" .)