The official name of McDonald's familiar “M” symbol is the Golden Arches. The name refers to the pair of stylized arches that form the company's most recognizable visual mark.
The symbol developed from the architecture of McDonald's restaurants. In the 1950s, architect Stanley Clark Meston designed yellow arches as prominent features on restaurant buildings. Their height and color helped motorists identify the locations from the road.
The arches later became a unified logo. In 1962, Jim Schindler combined the two forms into the familiar golden “M.” The mark could then appear independently on signs, packaging, uniforms, and advertising, making it useful well beyond the restaurant buildings that inspired it.
People sometimes call the emblem the “golden M,” because its outline resembles a capital letter. McDonald's branding history, however, officially and popularly identifies it as the Golden Arches. The name describes its origin as architectural arches, not simply its letter-like appearance.