The architectural symbol that became McDonald’s signature logo after its 1950s restaurant redesign was the Golden Arches.
Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the recognizable yellow arches for McDonald’s restaurants in the early 1950s. The arches were initially physical structures built into restaurant architecture, rather than a standalone logo. Their bright color and large roadside form helped restaurants attract motorists.
The first restaurants using the arch design opened in 1953, including a McDonald’s location in Phoenix, Arizona. The arches were later combined into the familiar “M” shape used in corporate branding. This change turned a building feature into one of the world’s best-known commercial symbols.
A common mix-up is treating the Golden Arches as a symbol created at the same time as the modern logo. The arches appeared in restaurant architecture before Jim Schindler’s later logo design merged them visually.