Which McDonald’s restaurant symbol was introduced in 1962 as a stylized letter M?

The Golden Arches were introduced in 1962 as McDonald’s stylized letter M.

Before 1962, arches were used as eye-catching structural elements on McDonald’s restaurant buildings. The original architectural arches were designed in 1952 by Stanley Clark Meston. A decade later, Jim Schindler combined the two shapes into a single graphic that resembled an “M.”

This change gave McDonald’s a flexible symbol that could appear on signs, packaging, uniforms, advertising, and corporate materials. The mark also worked without words, making it especially useful as the chain expanded beyond its original American market.

The Golden Arches are sometimes mistaken for the company’s earliest mascot, Speedee. Speedee represented the original “Speedee Service System” and was a separate branding element. The arches, by contrast, became the enduring corporate symbol most closely associated with McDonald’s restaurants themselves.