What was the name of McDonald's 1950s restaurant design featuring twin arches?

McDonald's 1950s restaurant design featuring twin arches was known as the Golden Arches.

Architect Stanley Meston developed the design for McDonald's restaurants, with assistance from artist and sign maker Charles Fish. The arches were tall, visible structures intended to make the restaurants easy to identify from the road.

The design was more than decoration: it was an early form of roadside brand recognition. Drivers could recognize a McDonald's location from its silhouette before the company had developed the globally standardized signage used today.

The architectural arches should not be confused with the modern logo. The building design used two separate arches, while Jim Schindler's 1962 logo combined their shapes into an M-like mark. The architectural idea nevertheless supplied the visual foundation for the corporate symbol.