One of the rarest McDonald’s in the world has blue arches – and there’s a very interesting reason why.
The fast-food chain is known for its golden arches, but what about blue?
There are over 41,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world, but one branch in Arizona has had blue arches for over 30 years.
The McDonald’s arches in Sedona, Arizona, are blue (Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)
Why does the McDonald’s have blue arches?
The Sedona restaurant was first opened back in 1993 and although it had planned to have golden arches like every other branch of the chain, the Department of Community Development – as well as the local community – weren’t sure about the bright colour and wanted to opt for something that would blend into the environment.
The city is renowned for its outstanding beauty and is surrounded by red rock mountains.
McDonald’s agreed to switch the colour to blue and the change has been a talking point ever since.
Senior planner for the department, Cari Meyer, told ABC 15 in 2022: “Someone suggested it would be interesting if they did something else than golden arches to fit in with the identity that the city decided to establish.”
The site remains the only in the world to have blue arches instead of yellow.
There are, however, some branches that have other coloured arches.
McDonald’s locations with different coloured arches
The McDonald’s located on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris is one of two locations with white arches (the other is in Bruges, Belgium).
Meanwhile, the McDonald’s in Rocklin, California, has bright red arches, and a restaurant in Monterey – also in California – has black.
According to the Monterey Herald, the city wasn’t keen on having yellow arches, so opted for black instead.
Meanwhile, a McDonald’s in New York has been called ‘the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world’.
The New York restaurant has been called ‘the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world’ (Tdorante10/Wikimedia Commons)
The branch is set inside a stunning old-style white house, in the town of Nassau and features a huge double staircase and a dining veranda.
Prior to it being a McDonald’s, the venue had actually become dilapidated and was set to be bulldozed to make way for a new, more traditional, McDonald’s restaurant.
The McDonald’s New York regional vice president at the time said: “When we took over this building, it was a disaster, a real eyesore.
“There were pigeons all over. We had to gut the building, take it down to the rafters.”
It opened in 1991 and hasn’t changed a great deal since, save for the additions of some modern features like self-service screens and electronic menu boards.