Who designed the original McDonald’s Golden Arches restaurant signs in the early 1950s?

Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the original McDonald’s Golden Arches restaurant signs in the early 1950s.

The McDonald brothers hired Meston to create a striking roadside design for their expanding restaurant concept. The arches were architectural elements on the buildings, not merely a flat logo. Their tall yellow forms were intended to be visible to motorists and helped make the restaurants recognizable from a distance.

The first restaurants using the new arches opened in 1953, including locations in Phoenix, Arizona, and Downey, California. The arches initially appeared as separate structures on opposite sides of the building. Their visual impact made them an important part of McDonald’s early roadside identity.

The later corporate logo was different from the original building design. In 1962, designer Jim Schindler combined the two arches into the familiar letter-like “M” symbol. That distinction explains why Stanley Clark Meston is credited with the architectural arches, while Schindler is associated with the later logo form.