This article was originally published on mentalfloss.com as Why the McDonald’s Logo Uses the Colors Yellow and Red.

Yellow might be less common, but many fast food chains have red in their logo, and it's not entirely clear whether this goes beyond the fact that this particular color is eye-catching.

McDonald's. Arby's. Wendy's. Burger King. Jack in the Box. In-N-Out and more all use the color red heavily in their logos, why? The answer goes back thousands of years.