McDonald’s yellow M-shaped logo is called the Golden Arches.
Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the original arches in 1952 for McDonald’s restaurant buildings. The arches were architectural features intended to make the restaurants visible from the road, rather than a logo created solely for printed advertising.
The arches were later combined into the familiar “M” symbol. This transformation helped turn a building design into one of the world’s most recognizable corporate marks. The Golden Arches should not be confused with the restaurant’s earlier Speedee character, which represented McDonald’s before the arches became dominant.
The phrase “Golden Arches” refers specifically to McDonald’s branding. It is not the official name of the letter M and does not describe every yellow arch used in architecture.