Red and yellow became the standard color combination in McDonald's 1960s restaurant branding.
The pairing gave McDonald's restaurants a highly visible identity that worked on roadside signs, building exteriors, packaging, and printed advertising. Yellow reinforced the Golden Arches, while red provided a strong contrasting field that could be recognized quickly from a distance. Together, the colors helped create a consistent national appearance as the chain expanded.
McDonald's has used additional colors and updated visual systems in different periods and markets, so individual restaurants may not look identical across decades. However, red and yellow are the classic colors most strongly associated with the brand's mid-century expansion. They should not be confused with the later use of green in some contemporary restaurant exteriors and corporate materials.