Discrete Symmetries from Broken SU(N) and the MSSM

In order that discrete symmetries should not be violated by gravitational effects, it is necessary to gauge them. In this paper we discuss the gauging of $\Z_N$ from the breaking of a high energy $SU(N)$ gauge symmetry, and derive consistency conditions for the resulting discrete symmetry fr om the requirement of anomaly cancellation in the parent symmetry. These results are then applied to a detailed analysis of the possible discrete symmetries forbidding proton decay in the minimal supersymmetric standard model.