Soldier carrying artist's sign (6)
I believe the answer is:
gemini
'sign' is the definition.
(Gemini is an example)
'soldier carrying artist's' is the wordplay.
'soldier' becomes 'gi' (government issue or general issue).
'carrying' indicates putting letters inside.
'artist' becomes 'emin' (I've seen this before).
'gi' enclosing 'emin' is 'GEMINI'.
(Other definitions for gemini that I've seen before include "Twins star sign" , "May person" , "Zodiacal twins" , "Sign of the Twins ( 6)" , "House" .)