McDonald’s introduced its first logo featuring overlapping Golden Arches in 1962. The design transformed the arches from restaurant architecture into a compact corporate symbol.
The original arches had been created as prominent architectural features on McDonald’s buildings during the 1950s. The 1962 logo used two stylized arches joined visually to form an “M,” making the design easier to reproduce on signs, packaging, advertisements, and other branded materials.
The logo was created by designer Jim Schindler. Although the arches had architectural predecessors, the 1962 version established the basic visual idea that became globally associated with McDonald’s.
This date is often confused with 1952, when architect Stanley Meston designed the original restaurant arches, or with later refinements to the logo. The key distinction is that 1962 marks the overlapping Golden Arches logo, not the first use of arches on a building.