The Golden Arches are the McDonald's symbol displayed on the company's famous red-and-yellow restaurant signs.
The symbol developed from the two large yellow arches used as architectural features on early McDonald's buildings. The arches made restaurants visible to motorists and helped distinguish them from nearby businesses. Their strong shape and bright color also made them effective in printed advertisements and packaging.
In 1962, the two arches were combined into a stylized M for the corporate logo. The design has appeared in many forms, including yellow arches on red backgrounds, a standalone golden M, and simplified versions used in digital branding. Despite those variations, the arches remain the core visual identifier.
The Golden Arches are sometimes mistaken for a symbol created solely as an abstract letter. Their history is more specific: the logo grew from real architectural arches and was then transformed into a graphic mark. That connection between building design and corporate identity is central to McDonald's branding history.