System and method for detecting symmetries of configurations of discrete curves. Configuration characterization information for a configuration of a plurality of discrete curves is received, where the configuration characterization information comprises rotational symmetry groups for each of the plurality of discrete curves. A greatest common divisor of the rotational symmetry groups of the discrete curves is determined, where the greatest common divisor is a maximum possible object-based mutual rotational symmetry group for the configuration. The determined value is stored, and is usable to perform pattern matching between configurations. This value may be compared to that of a target configuration to determine if the two configurations can match. Additional symmetry-based matching techniques are used to perform staged pattern matching between the two configurations, where the process may terminate as soon as one of the techniques determines that the configurations cannot match, or a matching algorithm determines that they match.