Which phrase appeared on McDonald’s early signs promoting restaurants marked by the arches?

McDonald’s early signs used the phrase “Look for the Golden Arches.”

The wording connected the company’s restaurant architecture with a simple roadside instruction. Customers could recognize the large yellow arches from a distance, so the phrase worked both as advertising copy and as practical location guidance.

This was an earlier stage of the arches’ branding history. The arches first appeared as paired architectural elements, while later McDonald’s identity increasingly used a single stylized M as a logo. The enduring visual idea remained the same: yellow arches signaled a McDonald’s restaurant.

The phrase is not the company’s later “I’m lovin’ it” campaign line. It belongs to the period when the arches themselves were being established as a national restaurant-identification device.