We show that the grading of fields by conformal weight, when built into the initial group symmetry, provides a discrete, non-central conformal extension of any group containing dilatations. We find a faithful vector representation of the extended conformal group and show that it has a scale-invariant scalar product and satisfies a closed commutator algebra. The commutator algebra contains the infinite Heisenberg and Virasoro algebras. In contrast to the classical treatment of scale invariance, covariant derivatives and gauge transformations automatically incorporate the correct conformal weights when the extended symmetry is gauged.

15 pages