McDonald’s introduced its modern joined-arches logo in 1962.
The logo was created by designer Jim Schindler, who combined the restaurant’s two separate architectural arches into a stylized letter M. This transformed a building feature into a compact symbol that could work on packaging, advertisements, uniforms, and signs.
The earlier arches had been positioned at opposite ends of McDonald’s buildings and were primarily intended to attract motorists. The 1962 design preserved their recognizable shape while making the mark easier to reproduce across a rapidly expanding chain. It also helped separate the corporate identity from any single restaurant’s architecture.
McDonald’s later changed the treatment of the logo, including versions with different backgrounds and wordmarks, but the basic golden M remained central. People sometimes date the familiar logo to the 1950s because the arches were already visible then; 1962 specifically refers to their merger into the recognizable logo form.