Yellow is the color most associated with McDonald’s Golden Arches logo.
The arches became especially effective as a branding device because their strong yellow shape could be recognized quickly against the restaurant’s buildings, signs, and roadside surroundings. The color is commonly described as golden yellow, but the standard short answer to the branding question is yellow.
McDonald’s also became strongly associated with red through restaurant signs, packaging, advertising, and the red background often paired with the arches. That combination can cause confusion: red is an important supporting brand color, while the arches themselves are yellow.
The Golden Arches name refers to the physical architectural elements that inspired the logo as well as the stylized letter “M.” Over time, the mark became more important than the original building design and was used independently on cups, uniforms, advertisements, and digital channels.