The invention relates to a method for the detection of a symmetrical object of a known shape, in particular of a road sign, preferably associated with a road, in an image of the environment in the range of view of an image taking device in particular arranged at a motor vehicle, in which an image is taken by means of the image taking device, at least one image region including image elements, which in each case exceeds a preset degree of symmetry, or a part thereof, is determined in the taken image or in an image generated from the taken image by image processing, a respective relevant image portion is determined with reference to the at least one image region or the part thereof for a subsequent shape recognition, and the shape recognition is carried out in each case only in the at least one relevant image portion to detect a potential image of the symmetrical object.