The Golden Arches from McDonald’s restaurant architecture became its corporate logo in 1962.
The arches began as large structural features on McDonald’s restaurant buildings. Their bright color and roadside position made them visible to passing motorists, giving the growing chain a strong architectural signature before the symbol became a standalone graphic.
In 1962, the two arch shapes were combined into the stylized form that resembles the letter “M.” This change helped McDonald’s apply the identity consistently to signs, wrappers, cups, advertisements, and other branded materials.
The Golden Arches are sometimes described as if they were created only as a logo. Their history actually combines architecture and graphic design. Stanley Clark Meston designed the original restaurant arches, while Jim Schindler created the logo treatment. That distinction explains why the physical arches and the printed emblem can look related without being identical.