Soldiers beginning to march amid poles and standards (5)
I believe the answer is:
norms
'standards' is the definition.
(I know this)
'soldiers beginning to march amid poles' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 'OR' (Other Ranks).
'beginning to' indicates taking the first letters.
'amid' indicates putting letters inside.
'poles' becomes 'NS' (North and South poles).
The initial letter of 'march' is 'm'.
'or'+'m'='orm'
'orm' placed within 'ns' is 'NORMS'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for norms that I've seen before include "Standards of customary behaviour" , "Typical patterns or situations" , "Authorative standards" , "Standards, customs of behaviour" , "Social standards" .)