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8 August 2022
McDonald’s bright yellow letter M has to be one of the most recognizable logos in the world. “The Golden Arches” adorn McDonald’s restaurants worldwide, to the point where they are nearly synonymous with McDonald’s.
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However, there is one McDonald’s with a light bluish-green logo instead of the famous yellow, and it happens to live in Sedona, Arizona. That’s right, the only arches you’ll see in Sedona are turquoise ones!
What’s the reasoning behind this color change? As many local Arizonans know, Sedona is renowned for its stunning natural beauty. Specifically, its red rock mountainous landscape. For this reason, Sedona has strict building restrictions to ensure that no structure intrudes too much on the surrounding natural landscape.
So when a McDonald’s opened its doors in 1993 in Sedona, the bright yellow M was considered a no-no for city officials. As a result, they chose a soothing, soft blue instead of gold, claiming that gold would clash with the surrounding red rocks. Yes, you read that right — gold didn’t fit the city’s (natural) decor.
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Regardless of its reason, the color change certainly makes this McDonald’s stand out. Undoubtedly, these unique not-so-golden arches have become an important tourist destination for travelers to Sedona. In fact, the Sedona McDonald’s location is #10 on the McDonald’s site “A craveable and delicious road trip: 13 of the most iconic McDonald’s across America.”
While the Teal Arches may be fascinating to some, we think Sedona has way cooler things to do while you’re in town. Check out this list of destinations to check out while you’re visiting one of the most extraordinary and beautiful places Arizona has to offer!
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