Brand colors

McDonald's Brand Colors

McDonald's palette: #DA291C, #FFC72C, #FFFFFF. Compare HEX/RGB, WCAG contrast and CSS tokens; open independent JSON data.

Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by McDonald's.

Commonly referenced palette McDonald's
#DA291C#FFC72C#FFFFFF
Listed without an implied color hierarchy

Palette

Palette color 1#DA291CRGB 218, 41, 28
Palette color 2#FFC72CRGB 255, 199, 44
White#FFFFFFRGB 255, 255, 255

CSS Tokens

:root {
  --brand-mcdonalds-1: #DA291C;
  --brand-mcdonalds-2: #FFC72C;
  --brand-mcdonalds-3: #FFFFFF;
}

Accessibility Snapshot

#DA291CBlack 4.32:1 / White 4.87:1
#FFC72CBlack 13.46:1 / White 1.56:1
#FFFFFFBlack 21:1 / White 1:1

Brand palette context · Editorially reviewed

About McDonald's Brand Colors

McDonald’s corporate history connects its best-known yellow form to architecture. Architect Stanley Meston designed the attention-getting red-and-white tiled restaurant with Golden Arches in 1953; the structural roadside feature later became a portable symbol that could move from buildings and signs to packaging and screens.

The red, yellow, and white reference shows why the system remains visible at distance: two warm high-energy colors are separated and supported by a light neutral. That historical relationship is more informative than treating yellow as a generic primary color. It does not authorize reconstruction of the arches, restaurant trade dress, packaging, or signage from these swatches.

This independent historical and color summary does not distribute McDonald’s artwork, represent a restaurant or franchise, imply endorsement, or grant trademark rights.

Downloadable brand colors infographic

McDonald's Brand Colors Infographic

Save an independent infographic of the commonly referenced McDonald's HEX palette and its accessibility guidance. No logo or proprietary artwork is included.

1200 × 800
McDonald's brand colors infographic showing its commonly referenced HEX palette and accessibility guidance for every listed color without assigning a color hierarchy.
McDonald's brand colors infographic. Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by McDonald's.

Machine-readable data

Machine-Readable Brand Color Data (JSON)

Structured brand palette data for design systems, references, automations, and AI ingestion.

AI-Ready Dataset v1.0.0
Luminance0.1658
Black text4.32:1AA Fail
White text4.87:1AA Pass
hexCanonical HEX value
rgbRed, green, blue channels
hslHue, saturation, lightness
cmykApproximate print conversion
wcagAA and AAA contrast options
harmoniesMathematical harmony sets
variantsGenerated tone variants
nearestColorsKnowledge graph neighbors
Download JSON Open API
Structured sections
Brand
{
  "slug": "mcdonalds",
  "name": "McDonald's",
  "category": "food",
  "brandCategory": [
    "Food & Beverage",
    "food"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/mcdonalds/",
  "categoryUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/food/",
  "disclaimer": "Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by McDonald's."
}
Palette
[
  {
    "name": "Palette color 1",
    "hex": "#DA291C",
    "rgb": [
      218,
      41,
      28
    ],
    "hsl": [
      4,
      77,
      48
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      81,
      87,
      15
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1658,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.32,
      "white": 4.87
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "Palette color 2",
    "hex": "#FFC72C",
    "rgb": [
      255,
      199,
      44
    ],
    "hsl": [
      44,
      100,
      59
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      22,
      83,
      0
    ],
    "luminance": 0.6229,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 13.46,
      "white": 1.56
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "White",
    "hex": "#FFFFFF",
    "rgb": [
      255,
      255,
      255
    ],
    "hsl": [
      0,
      0,
      100
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      0,
      0,
      0
    ],
    "luminance": 1,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 21,
      "white": 1
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    }
  }
]
AI context
{
  "brandUseCases": [
    "packaging",
    "store design",
    "menu systems",
    "retail coffee design",
    "brand reference",
    "design systems",
    "CSS tokens"
  ],
  "semanticGroups": [
    "food & beverage brand colors",
    "red brand palette",
    "orange brand palette",
    "gray brand palette",
    "warm brand palette",
    "neutral brand palette",
    "vibrant brand color",
    "light brand color",
    "McDonald's color reference"
  ],
  "contrastSafeWith": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#000000",
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#36454F"
  ],
  "relatedEndpoints": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors/mcdonalds.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors.json"
  ]
}
CSS tokens
{
  "css": "--brand-mcdonalds-1: #DA291C;\n--brand-mcdonalds-2: #FFC72C;\n--brand-mcdonalds-3: #FFFFFF;"
}
Accessibility
[
  {
    "hex": "#DA291C",
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.32,
      "white": 4.87
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    }
  },
  {
    "hex": "#FFC72C",
    "contrast": {
      "black": 13.46,
      "white": 1.56
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "hex": "#FFFFFF",
    "contrast": {
      "black": 21,
      "white": 1
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    }
  }
]
Full JSON dataset
{
  "slug": "mcdonalds",
  "name": "McDonald's",
  "category": "food",
  "brandCategory": [
    "Food & Beverage",
    "food"
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by McDonald's.",
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/mcdonalds/",
  "categoryUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/food/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors/mcdonalds.json",
  "colors": [
    {
      "name": "Palette color 1",
      "hex": "#DA291C",
      "rgb": [
        218,
        41,
        28
      ],
      "hsl": [
        4,
        77,
        48
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        81,
        87,
        15
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1658,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.32,
        "white": 4.87
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Palette color 2",
      "hex": "#FFC72C",
      "rgb": [
        255,
        199,
        44
      ],
      "hsl": [
        44,
        100,
        59
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        22,
        83,
        0
      ],
      "luminance": 0.6229,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 13.46,
        "white": 1.56
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "White",
      "hex": "#FFFFFF",
      "rgb": [
        255,
        255,
        255
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        0,
        100
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        0,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "luminance": 1,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 21,
        "white": 1
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "brandUseCases": [
    "packaging",
    "store design",
    "menu systems",
    "retail coffee design",
    "brand reference",
    "design systems",
    "CSS tokens"
  ],
  "semanticGroups": [
    "food & beverage brand colors",
    "red brand palette",
    "orange brand palette",
    "gray brand palette",
    "warm brand palette",
    "neutral brand palette",
    "vibrant brand color",
    "light brand color",
    "McDonald's color reference"
  ],
  "contrastSafeWith": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#000000",
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#36454F"
  ],
  "relatedEndpoints": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors/mcdonalds.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors.json"
  ]
}