McDonald’s yellow M-shaped symbol is called the Golden Arches.
Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the original arches in 1952 for a McDonald’s restaurant in Downey, California. They were architectural features on the building rather than a logo printed on packaging. The two large yellow arches were intended to make the restaurant visible to motorists.
The arches gradually became associated with the McDonald’s name. In 1962, the company adopted a logo based on the arches, joining them into the familiar M shape. The design became one of the world’s most recognizable corporate symbols.
A common mix-up is to call the symbol simply the “yellow M.” Golden Arches is the established branding term, although the mark is now usually drawn as a single stylized M rather than as two separate building structures.