What Is the McDonald's Logo?
The McDonald's logo is the Golden Arches: two yellow arches joined into a rounded letter M. They began as real arches on the roofs of McDonald's restaurants in 1953 and were turned into a logo in 1962. The logo belongs to McDonald's Corporation, the Chicago-based fast-food chain whose story starts with a drive-in that Dick and Mac McDonald opened in San Bernardino, California, in 1940.
Some offshoots carry marks of their own, such as McCafé, the coffee brand that began with a café in Melbourne in 1993. The arches are available as the McDonald's logo SVG.
McDonald's Logo Facts
| Designer | Jim Schindler (1962 logo) |
| Introduced | 1962 |
| Symbol | Two golden arches forming the letter M |
| Logo type | Lettermark: the arches form an M |
| Earlier mark | Speedee, a chef figure on early roadside signs |
| Owner | McDonald's Corporation |
What the McDonald's Logo Means
The arches started as architecture, not graphic design. When architect Stanley Meston drew the "Red and White" restaurant for the McDonald brothers, Dick McDonald felt the roof line looked too flat and added a pair of arches. Meston's assistant Charles Fish shaped them into tall parabolas, and a sign maker lined them with yellow neon. That glow gave them the name Golden Arches.
As a logo, the two arches do a second job: side by side they spell the M of McDonald's. The yellow arches sit against the company's red, a pairing chosen for its eye-catching contrast.
McDonald's Logo History
The Red and White building with its arches was first used in 1953. In May of that year a franchised restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona, became the first to open with the design, and Ray Kroc's first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois, opened with the same arches on 15 April 1955. A smaller arch at the roadside carried Speedee, a chubby chef who was the chain's first mascot.
In 1962 the company wanted a new logo to lift its image. Fred Turner, who later became chairman, sketched a stylised V. Jim Schindler stretched it into an M drawn like a McDonald's restaurant seen from an angle, with a slanting roof line across the arches. The arches replaced Speedee as the chain's main symbol that year.
The buildings changed next. In 1969 McDonald's opened its first Mansard Roof restaurant in Matteson, Illinois, and the arched Red and White design was phased out. The arches left the rooftops but stayed in the logo.
The Arches on the Buildings
Many franchisees remodelled their arched buildings in the Mansard style after 1969, but a few early restaurants survived. The oldest Red and White McDonald's in operation opened in 1953 in Downey, California, which makes it a rare place to see the logo in its first, three-dimensional form.
For more brands like McDonald's, browse our food and drink logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the McDonald's logo called the Golden Arches?
The name comes from the arches on the 1953 restaurant design, which a sign maker lined with yellow neon so they glowed gold.
Who designed the McDonald's logo?
Jim Schindler turned the arches into an M in 1962, building on a sketch by Fred Turner. The arches themselves came from Stanley Meston's restaurant design, with the idea added by Dick McDonald.
What was McDonald's mascot before the Golden Arches?
Speedee, a chubby chef figure who appeared on the roadside signs until the arches replaced him as the main symbol in 1962.
Where can you see the original McDonald's arches?
At the McDonald's in Downey, California, which opened in 1953 and is the oldest Red and White restaurant in operation.