Who created McDonald’s familiar yellow “M” logo by joining two Golden Arches?

Jim Schindler created McDonald’s familiar yellow “M” logo by joining two Golden Arches. He developed the symbol in 1962 while working as a designer for the company.

The design grew out of McDonald’s restaurant architecture. Earlier locations had featured two separate yellow arches as part of their buildings. Schindler’s solution connected those visual elements into a single emblem that resembled the letter M.

The combined arches became much more than a drawing of a restaurant facade. They provided McDonald’s with a simple mark that could appear on signs, packaging, advertisements, uniforms, and later digital media. Its strong shape and bright color also made it easy to recognize from a distance.

Stanley Meston is sometimes named instead because he designed the original architectural arches in 1952. Meston created the building feature; Schindler created the combined logo form associated with the modern brand.