Left/Right wings (in politics)

The terms left and right as applied to politics or political viewpoints started off in France c.1789 during the French Revolution. The presiding officers of the French National Assembly adopted the practice of seating the loyalists and monarchists on the right with the radicals and republicans on the left. Thereafter, by the early 19th century, the terms left and right were borrowed from the French and were accepted globally as describing broad political affiliations, with moderates in the centre. The notions of ‘wings’ were borrowed from the military, and added to the political spectra of left and right during the latter part of the 19th century.