The Golden Arches were the McDonald's symbol incorporated into the company's modern M design in 1962.
The arches began as physical architectural elements on McDonald's restaurants. Architect Stanley Meston designed the original pair for the restaurant in Downey, California, in 1952. Their bright yellow color was intended to make the building visible to passing motorists.
When designer Jim Schindler created the 1962 logo, he combined the two arches into a stylized M. The resulting mark preserved the restaurant architecture while making it usable as a compact corporate logo. It could appear independently on signs, packaging, advertisements, and merchandise.
The Golden Arches are sometimes mistaken for a symbol created only as a letter M. Their history began with the shape of the buildings. The logo's power came from transforming that architectural feature into a consistent visual identity recognized far beyond the restaurants themselves.