Poisson Algebra of Wilson Loops in Four-Dimensional Yang-Mills Theory

We formulate the canonical structure of Yang--Mills theory in terms of Poisson brackets of gauge invariant observables analogous to Wilson loops. This algebra is non--trivial and tractable in a light--cone formulation. For U(N) gauge theories the result is a Lie algebra while for SU(N) gauge theories it is a quadratic algebra. We also study the identities satsfied by the gauge invariant observables. We suggest that the phase space of a Yang--Mills theory is a co--adjoint orbit of our Poisson algebra; some partial results in this direction are obtained.