Yellow and red form the classic Golden Arches color combination in McDonald's branding.
The bright yellow arches are designed to stand out against the red background used on many traditional McDonald's signs, packaging elements, and restaurant exteriors. Together, the colors became strongly associated with the chain's visual identity across countries.
The arches themselves are generally described as golden or yellow, while red has commonly served as a contrasting field or companion color. McDonald's has also used other palettes, especially in restaurant redesigns and modern green-focused environmental branding, but the red-and-yellow pairing remains the classic combination.
Color usage has varied by era, market, and application. That variation does not change the historical answer: the best-known traditional McDonald's palette is yellow and red, not the newer green and yellow treatments seen at some locations.