We present a systematic way to construct dynamical systems with a specific symmetry group G. Each symmetric strange attractor has a unique image attractor that is locally identical to it but different at the global topological level. Image attractors can be lifted to many inequivalent covering attractors. These are distinguished by an index that has related topological, algebraic and group theoretical interpretations. These methods are used to describe dynamical systems with symmetry groups V 4 , S 4 and S 6 .