What two-color symbol became McDonald's main logo in 1962?

The Golden Arches became McDonald’s main logo in 1962.

The design was created by Jim Schindler, who combined the stylized yellow arches used on McDonald’s restaurants into an “M”-shaped symbol. The arches had originally been architectural features of individual buildings, but the logo transformed them into a portable corporate mark.

The symbol helped McDonald’s build a consistent identity as the chain expanded across the United States and then internationally. It was commonly shown in yellow against a red background, although later applications used many different color treatments and simplified versions.

The arches are sometimes mistaken for a symbol created at the chain’s founding in 1940. McDonald’s originally used other signs and the Speedee mascot; the recognizable Golden Arches logo belongs to the early 1960s and followed the spread of the distinctive restaurant architecture.