  We show that the Yang-Baxter equations for two dimensional models admit as a
group of symmetry the infinite discrete group $A_2^{(1)}$. The existence of
this symmetry explains the presence of a spectral parameter in the solutions of
the equations. We show that similarly, for three-dimensional vertex models and
the associated tetrahedron equations, there also exists an infinite discrete
group of symmetry. Although generalizing naturally the previous one, it is a
much bigger hyperbolic Coxeter group. We indicate how this symmetry can help to
resolve the Yang-Baxter equations and their higher-dimensional generalizations
and initiate the study of three-dimensional vertex models. These symmetries are
naturally represented as birational projective transformations. They may
preserve non trivial algebraic varieties, and lead to proper parametrizations
of the models, be they integrable or not. We mention the relation existing
between spin models and the Bose-Messner algebras of algebraic combinatorics.
Our results also yield the generalization of the condition $q^n=1$ so often
mentioned in the theory of quantum groups, when no $q$ parameter is available.
