McDonald’s yellow M-shaped symbol is called the Golden Arches.
The arches began as architectural features rather than a standalone logo. Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the distinctive arched structures for McDonald’s restaurants in the early 1950s. The arches were intended to make the buildings visible from the road and help establish a recognizable restaurant identity.
In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined two stylized arches into the familiar “M” emblem. This transformed an architectural feature into one of the world’s best-known corporate symbols. The arches were used with other branding elements before eventually becoming recognizable on their own.
A common mix-up is to call the symbol simply the “McDonald’s logo.” That is understandable, but “Golden Arches” is the established name for the yellow arches themselves. The symbol’s meaning is therefore rooted in both restaurant design and graphic branding.