Red appeared behind the McDonald's logo in the company's 1975 redesign.
The 1975 version placed the yellow arches and the McDonald's wordmark inside a red rectangular field. This combination created strong contrast and made the sign easy to recognize at a distance, an important advantage for roadside restaurants and drive-through locations.
The redesign followed earlier versions in which the arches and company name appeared in different arrangements. McDonald's retained the yellow arches as the core symbol but changed the surrounding presentation to create a more consistent and highly visible brand identity.
The red-and-yellow treatment became strongly associated with McDonald's restaurants, although it was not the only color scheme the company used. In 2003, McDonald's introduced a major logo variation using a green background in some applications. These changes altered the setting around the emblem rather than replacing the arches themselves.