What type of symbol are McDonald’s Golden Arches, according to the company’s branding history?

McDonald’s Golden Arches are a stylized letter M.

The symbol developed from the large architectural arches used on early McDonald’s restaurants. When the two arches were combined in the company’s visual identity, their outline resembled a capital M, linking the building design with the first letter of McDonald’s.

The arches were originally practical architectural features intended to make restaurants visible from the road. Over time, they became more important as a graphic mark than as part of the building itself. The yellow color and simple shape helped the symbol remain recognizable at a distance.

The Golden Arches are often described informally as two separate arches, but the established logo reads as a single stylized M. This question concerns the symbol’s letterform, not the name of the designer or the first year in which a combined logo was used.