Jim Schindler designed McDonald’s modern Golden Arches logo by combining the two arches into an “M.”
The arches began as architectural features of McDonald’s restaurants in the 1950s. Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the distinctive buildings, whose tall yellow arches were visible from the roadside and helped identify the restaurants.
In 1962, McDonald’s executive and designer Jim Schindler combined the two arches into a single stylized letter “M.” This converted an architectural feature into a compact corporate symbol that could appear on signs, packaging, advertisements, and employee materials.
A common mix-up is crediting Ray Kroc with designing the logo. Kroc was central to McDonald’s expansion, but the modern combined-arches mark is attributed to Schindler. The arches’ earlier architectural history and their later use as a logo are related but distinct stages of McDonald’s branding.