What visual symbol forms the letter “M” in McDonald’s best-known logo?

The Golden Arches form the letter “M” in McDonald’s best-known logo.

The symbol developed from the yellow arches built into McDonald’s restaurants during the 1950s. Those structures were designed to make restaurants highly visible from roads, especially as the chain expanded through automobile-oriented suburban areas.

In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined the two arches into a stylized “M.” The resulting mark preserved the visual memory of the buildings while creating a compact identity suitable for signs, packaging, uniforms, and advertising.

The Golden Arches are sometimes mistaken for a symbol that was created entirely as a logo from the beginning. Their history is architectural first and graphic second. That transition—from roadside building feature to global corporate symbol—is a defining part of McDonald’s branding history.