McDonald's two yellow semicircular structures, first designed for its restaurants in 1952, are called the Golden Arches.
Architect Stanley Clark Meston developed the arches as part of a new restaurant design for McDonald's. The structures were initially physical architectural elements placed at the sides of the building, often extending above the roofline and visible from the road.
The arches later became more than restaurant decoration. In 1962, McDonald's combined the two arches into the familiar stylized M logo. That change helped turn an architectural feature into one of the world's most recognizable commercial symbols.
A common mix-up is assuming the Golden Arches began as a logo. They began as part of the building design and only later became a central graphic mark. Their bright yellow color and roadside placement also made them useful for motorists looking for a restaurant.