  We revisit general arguments for the absence of exact continuous global
symmetries in string compactifications and extend them to D-brane models. We
elucidate the various ways approximate continuous global symmetries arise in
the 4-dimensional effective action. In addition to two familiar methods -
axionic Peccei-Quinn symmetries and remnant global abelian symmetries from
Green-Schwarz gauge symmetry breaking - we identify new ways to generate
approximate continuous global symmetries. Two methods stand out, both of which
occur for local brane constructions within the LARGE volume scenario of moduli
stabilisation. The first is the generic existence of continuous non-abelian
global symmetries associated with local Calabi-Yau isometries. These symmetries
are exact in the non-compact limit and are spontaneously broken by the LARGE
volume, with breaking effects having phenomenologically interesting sizes \sim
0.01 for plausible choices for underlying parameters. Such approximate flavour
symmetries are phenomenologically attractive and may allow the fermion mass
hierarchies to be connected to the electroweak hierarchy via the large volume.
The second is the possible existence of new hyper-weak gauge interactions under
which Standard Model matter is charged, with \alpha_{HW} \sim 10^{-9}. Such
groups arise from branes wrapping bulk cycles and intersecting the local
(resolved) singularity on which the Standard Model is supported. We discuss
experimental bounds for these new gauge bosons and their interactions with the
Standard Model particles.
