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abstract: '[In this paper we propose the idea that flavons can emerge from extra dimensional gauge fields, referred to as gauge-flavon unification (GFU) analogous to gauge-Higgs unification (GHU). We assume that there is a gauged family symmetry in extra dimensions and that the flavons are the extra dimensional components of the gauge field. This provides a simple mechanism to align the VEVs of the flavons through a combination of Wilson lines and orbifold symmetry breaking. We present some simple 5d examples of GFU based on $SO(3)$ and $SU(4)$ gauged family symmetry, the latter case yielding $SU(3)\times U(1)$ gauged family symmetry in 4d, broken by triplet and antitriplet flavons, with effective couplings to fermions. We also present a general formalism for Wilson lines and orbifolds, in any number of dimensions, including non-commutative aspects Wilson lines, which may be useful for aligning additional flavons as required for realistic models. ]{}'
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[**Gauge-flavon unification** ]{}\
Alfredo Aranda$^{\ddag}$[^1], Francisco J. de Anda$^{\dagger}$[^2], Stephen F. King$^{\star}$[^3],\

$^{\ddag}$ *Facultad de Ciencias-CUICBAS, Universidad de Colima, C.P.28045, Colima, México 01000, México*

Dual CP Institute of High Energy Physics, C.P. 28045, Colima, México

$^{\dagger}$ *Tepatitl[á]{}n’s Institute for Theoretical Studies, C.P. 47600, Jalisco, M[é]{}xico*

$^{\star}$ *School of Physics and 