This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Mickey D's below in the comments.

Should you ever doubt that I was born and bred a United States citizen, let the following anecdote erase all skepticism. Flashing back to 1983 for a moment, we find my 2-year-old self in my dad's old Plymouth station wagon. We're on the way to pick up my sister from Montessori school, and I'm riding in the front seat (a flagrant violation of my mother's car-seat rule, not to mention Ohio state law). From my shotgun perch, I have a clear view of the windshield wiper knob for the first time ... and, to my toddler's eye, the button atop this lever screams one message: McDonald's (NYSE: MCD).

That's right; I thought that the familiar wiper-fluid icon, with its two arches fanning out from one central stem, was somehow related to America's premier fast-food export. My quickly formed hypothesis went something along the lines of, In case of emergency, press here, and the Golden Arches will appear on the horizon. (Are you listening, automakers? The future is now!) As formative childhood memories go, this one blissfully passes up Freud and heads straight to Jung.

It might sound like an exaggeration, but the Golden Arches are nothing if not archetypal. Sure, there are other notable arches in the world; the Gateway Arch in St. Louis springs to mind, as does France's Arc de Triomphe, and the reasonable facsimile thereof in New York City's Washington Square Park. But, I ask you, is there another parabola in the world that so effortlessly communicates the same message in Beijing as it does in Cincinnati?

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the Golden Arches are equally welcome in both locales. In anticipation of the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing passed strict regulations to control outdoor signage. Tragically, no fewer than 30 Golden Arches were among the casualties. (Prepare yourself now to see footage of American tourists stumbling blindly through the Olympic host city in search of their beloved Big Macs.)

Despite their gilded hue, the Golden Arches themselves do not guarantee Midas-like success. Remember the Arch Deluxe? The short-lived burger, launched in 1996, was meant to appeal to an adult audience with more refined taste buds than the Happy Meal set. The "upscale" sandwich was easily distinguishable by its split-top roll and its higher price tag, as well as a questionable, $200-million advertising campaign that featured picky kids trashing the burger's taste. (And, for the record, it was marketed as the McDeluxe en francais.) Needless to say, McDonald's found out the hard way that adults with refined taste buds aren't willing to shell out for an extra-pricey fast-food burger, no matter what kind of iconic American image is slapped on it.

And that wasn't the only occasion where McDonald's was hoist upon the petard of its own symbolism. In 2004 -- the same year that Morgan Spurlock's documentary SuperSize Me became a word-of-mouth success -- the fast-food chain found itself beset by criticism for its worldwide dissemination of nutrition-free menu items. Eager to ditch its image as a fat-shoveling icon of corporate indifference, McDonald's stripped the Golden Arches from its U.K. advertising, and replaced the familiar "M" with a golden question mark and the phrase "McDonald's. But Not as You Know It."

Oh, McDonald's. You can try to hide the voluptuous curves of your arches behind a flirty question mark, or mask your identity under the leafy cover of fast-food salads, but we still recognize you. And you know what? For the most part, we kinda like you anyway. Even though I still can't wash my windshield without developing a craving for French fries, it's just impossible to hold a grudge against the Golden Arches.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the weekly video series Option Basics on SchaeffersResearch.com.