What nickname is commonly used for McDonald’s yellow M-shaped logo?

McDonald’s yellow M-shaped logo is commonly called the Golden Arches.

The arches began as architectural features of early McDonald’s restaurants rather than as a logo alone. Richard and Maurice McDonald included large yellow arches in the design of their restaurants in the 1950s to make the buildings visible from the road.

The arches were later combined into a stylized M. Jim Schindler created the familiar logo design in 1962, helping transform restaurant architecture into one of the world’s most recognizable corporate marks.

The Golden Arches are sometimes confused with McDonald’s older restaurant signs or with the separate “Speedee” character. Speedee represented the company’s original speedy-service identity, while the arches became its dominant visual symbol. The logo has been simplified and recolored in different markets, but the golden M remains central to McDonald’s branding.