  We demonstrate that the five vortex equations recently introduced by Manton
ariseas symmetry reductions of the anti-self-dual Yang--Mills equations in four
dimensions. In particular the Jackiw--Pi vortex and the Ambj\o rn--Olesen
vortex correspond to the gauge group $SU(1, 1)$, and respectively the Euclidean
or the $SU(2)$ symmetry groups acting with two-dimensional orbits. We show how
to obtain vortices with higher vortex numbers, by superposing vortex equations
of different types. Finally we use the kinetic energy of the Yang--Mills theory
in 4+1 dimensions to construct a metric on vortex moduli spaces. This metric is
not positive-definite in cases of non-compact gauge groups.
