What name does McDonald’s give its yellow M-shaped logo?

McDonald’s calls its yellow M-shaped logo the Golden Arches.

The design began as an architectural feature rather than a logo. In the early 1950s, architect Stanley Meston designed two large yellow arches for McDonald’s restaurant buildings. The arches were intended to attract motorists and make the restaurants recognizable from the road.

The arches later became a stylized letter M and an internationally recognized corporate symbol. McDonald’s incorporated the symbol into its branding during the 1960s, replacing the earlier Speedee-focused identity in prominence.

A common mix-up is assuming the arches were originally invented as a letter. They began as separate physical arches on restaurant buildings. The term “Golden Arches” refers both to that architectural history and to the logo used by McDonald’s today.