The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 3 plus 6 letter word HAMMER AND SICKLE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
H
A
M
M
E
R
A
N
D
S
I
C
K
L
E
More clues leading to the result HAMMER AND SICKLE
- Working man’s marched like an emblem of his kind?
- Strike on day, thus disrupting joint, showing sign of communism
- Kremlin made cash changing its old symbols
- Spoilt children ask me around in the morning — this is symbolic
- Slam troubled land embracing distasteful and ultimately obsolete emblem
- Made cash Kremlin converted into revolutionary tools
- Standard of old implements
- Standard tools?
- Actor slacked in Strange Red Sign
- Harry searched milkman for possible weapons
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "this is symbolic" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case this is symbolic = hammer and sickle.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.