Who designed the original Golden Arches for McDonald’s first franchised restaurant building in 1952?

Stanley Clark Meston designed the original Golden Arches for McDonald’s first franchised restaurant building in 1952.

Meston was an architect working with Richard McDonald and Maurice McDonald on the restaurant’s highly visible roadside design. The brothers wanted a building that drivers could recognize quickly, so the design incorporated two large yellow arches at opposite ends of the structure.

The arches were originally architectural features, not merely a printed logo. Their bright yellow color and roadside position helped the restaurants stand out in the emerging drive-in market. The design also reflected the brothers’ interest in making their buildings distinctive and efficient.

McDonald’s later transformed the arches into the freestanding “M” symbol used in corporate branding. That later logo is often confused with the original building design, but the architect credited with the early restaurant arches was Meston.