In this paper, we present a symmetry analysis of magnetoelectric properties and spin reorientation processes in rare earth orthochromites, RCrO3. Structural instability and related crystallographic distortions in these materials lead to polar and axial structural modes emerging due to electric dipole ordering and rotations of the O6 octahedra. We find that displacements of oxygen ions from their highly symmetric positions in the parent perovskite phase induce electric dipole moments near Cr 3+ ions arranged in the antiferroelectic mode. Our results indicate that, in essence, RCrO3 are ferroelectric materials, the polarization of which manifests itself in electric field. These findings are supported by recent experiments demonstrating electric field induced polar ordering in RCrO3 crystals with various rare earth ions. Here, we classify structural order parameters according to the irreducible representations of the RCrO3 symmetry group (D2h 16 ), determine the possible couplings between distortive, ferroelectric and magnetic orderings and discuss a series of magnetoelectric structures in these terms. The presented analysis allows explain experiments on polarization reversal and the concomitant reorientation of spins, as well as to predict possible scenarios of phase transitions in RCrO3.