  We present several models where the QCD axion arises accidentally. Confining
gauge theories can generate axion candidates whose properties are uniquely
determined by the quantum numbers of the new fermions under the Standard Model.
The Peccei-Quinn symmetry can emerge accidentally if the gauge theory is
chiral. We generalise previous constructions in a unified framework. In some
cases these models can be understood as the deconstruction of 5-dimensional
gauge theories where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is protected by locality but
more general constructions are possible.
