  In a solvable model of two dimensional SU(N) (N \to \infty) gauge fields
interacting with matter in both adjoint and fundamental representations we
investigate the nature of the phase transition separating the strong and weak
coupling regions of the phase diagram. By interpreting the large N solution of
the model in terms of SU(N) representations it is shown that the strong
coupling phase corresponds to a region where a gap occurs in the spectrum of
irreducible representations. We identify a gauge invariant order parameter for
the generalized confinement-deconfinement transition and give a physical
meaning to each phase in terms of the interaction of a pair of test charges.
