McDonald’s yellow architectural arches were named the Golden Arches.
Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the arches in 1952 for a McDonald’s restaurant in Downey, California. The building used two large yellow arches on opposite sides of the restaurant, creating a distinctive roadside silhouette.
The arches were initially part of the restaurant’s architecture rather than a standalone corporate logo. Over time, McDonald’s combined the two arches into the familiar stylized “M” used in its visual identity. That transition helped turn an architectural feature into one of the world’s most recognizable commercial symbols.
A common mix-up is to treat the Golden Arches as the original McDonald’s logo. Earlier branding emphasized the Speedee character and the restaurant’s “Speedee Service System.” The arches became especially important after the 1960s, when the company increasingly used the golden “M” as its principal mark.