Which McDonald's logo element was added to the arches in the 1962 design?

A diagonal line was added to the arches in McDonald's 1962 logo design.

The line visually connected the two yellow arches and suggested the sloping roofline of the restaurant buildings that inspired the symbol. This helped turn architectural features into a compact graphic mark that could work on signs, packaging, and advertising.

The modern logo was designed by Jim Schindler. Earlier McDonald's restaurants had used separate golden arches as physical structures, but the 1962 mark combined them into a single emblem with a more recognizable silhouette.

The diagonal element is easy to overlook because later versions and reproductions often emphasize the large yellow “M.” It is nevertheless an important part of the original logo's construction and its link to McDonald's architecture.