Who designed the first McDonald's Golden Arches as architectural features in 1952?

Stanley Clark Meston designed the first McDonald's Golden Arches as architectural features in 1952.

Meston was an architect working with McDonald's when the company developed a new restaurant design. The proposal used two large yellow arches on opposite sides of the building. Seen from an angle, they formed a distinctive visual frame and helped make the restaurants recognizable from the road.

The arches were initially part of the building rather than a standalone corporate logo. Their bright yellow color and unusual shape served a practical advertising purpose for motorists. They also gave the relatively small restaurants a consistent identity as the chain began expanding through franchising.

The symbol later became more abstract. In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined the arches into the familiar golden “M” mark. The architectural structures therefore came first; the logo developed afterward from the same visual idea. This history explains why “Golden Arches” can mean either the original building elements or the corporate symbol derived from them.