What are the two yellow shapes in McDonald’s Golden Arches logo called?

The two yellow shapes in McDonald’s logo are called the Golden Arches.

The arches began as architectural features on McDonald’s restaurants in the 1950s. The company later combined the two shapes into a stylized “M,” turning restaurant architecture into one of the world’s most recognizable corporate symbols.

The term can describe both the physical arches associated with early restaurants and the logo derived from them. It is not simply a nickname for the letter M; the arches have their own history in McDonald’s visual identity.

The Golden Arches became especially powerful because they could identify a McDonald’s restaurant from a distance, even when customers could not read the sign.