Which McDonald's logo feature was added to the Golden Arches in 1968: the company's name or a slogan?

The company’s name was added to the Golden Arches in the 1968 McDonald’s logo redesign.

The redesign placed the word “McDonald’s” across the lower portion of the yellow arches, making the corporate name readable alongside the symbol. This helped connect the increasingly familiar architectural mark with the restaurant chain’s formal identity.

Earlier McDonald’s branding had used the arches in restaurant architecture and in simpler graphic forms. By adding the wordmark, the company created a logo that could work on signs, packaging, advertising, and other media without relying only on a building silhouette.

The 1968 design is often confused with later refinements, including versions that removed the wordmark or used different proportions. The central branding change in this version was the combination of the arches and the McDonald’s name, not the addition of a slogan.