McDonald’s began using the Golden Arches as part of its corporate logo in 1962.
The arches had originally been architectural features of McDonald’s restaurants, especially the distinctive buildings developed during the company’s early expansion. After Ray Kroc acquired the business from the McDonald brothers in 1961, the arches were adapted into a simplified graphic mark for corporate branding.
The 1962 logo used the arches together with a diagonal line and the restaurant name. Over time, the arches became more visually dominant, eventually developing into the standalone golden “M” recognized around the world. This progression shows how an architectural feature became a corporate symbol.
The logo history is often confused with the date of the first restaurant building featuring arches. The buildings and the logo were related but not identical milestones. The branding change in 1962 concerns the use of the arches as a graphic corporate mark, not the original construction of an arched restaurant.