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Abstract Emergence of fundamental forces from gauge symmetry is among our most profound insights about the physical universe. In nature, such symmetries remain hidden in the space of internal degrees of freedom of subatomic particles. Here we propose a way to realize and study gauge structures in real space, manifest in external degrees of freedom of quantum states. We present a model based on a ring-shaped lattice potential, which allows for both Abelian and non-Abelian constructs. Non trivial Wilson loops are shown possible via physical motion of the system. The underlying physics is based on the close analogy of geometric phase with gauge potentials that has been utilized to create synthetic gauge fields with internal states of ultracold atoms. By scaling up to an array with spatially varying parameters, a discrete gauge field can be realized in position space, and its dynamics mapped over macroscopic size and time scales.