McDonald's introduced the combined Golden Arches logo in its familiar M shape in 1962.
The original arches were separate architectural elements placed at opposite ends of a McDonald's restaurant. They were designed by architect Stanley Clark Meston in 1952 for the San Bernardino building. A decade later, designer Jim Schindler joined the two arches visually to create the stylized M that could function as a standalone corporate mark.
The 1962 logo was important because McDonald's was expanding beyond its original location. A compact symbol could appear on roadside signs, restaurant exteriors, paper packaging, and advertisements without reproducing the full building design. The arches therefore shifted from physical architecture to portable brand identity.
People sometimes date the Golden Arches to 1952 because that is when the first arches appeared on a restaurant. The more precise distinction is that 1952 marks the architectural design, while 1962 marks the combined logo associated with the brand today.