What McDonald’s brand symbol was added to the company’s packaging in the 1960s?

The Golden Arches were added to McDonald’s packaging in the 1960s as the company expanded its visual identity.

The arches began on restaurant buildings, where they served as prominent roadside signs. During the 1960s, the symbol increasingly appeared in corporate graphics and packaging, helping customers recognize McDonald’s products beyond the restaurant itself.

This development is sometimes confused with the exact creation of the logo. The architectural arches predated the unified logo, while Jim Schindler’s 1962 design brought the separate forms together into a stylized “M.” Packaging helped turn that design into a portable brand mark.

The result was a consistent visual language across signs, wrappers, bags, and advertisements.