diff --git a/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt b/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt
index 0a8a948e6f..3d87d3edd5 100644
--- a/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt
+++ b/Documentation/pretty-formats.txt
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ The placeholders are:
 - '%Cgreen': switch color to green
 - '%Cblue': switch color to blue
 - '%Creset': reset color
+- '%C(...)': color specification, as described in color.branch.* config option
 - '%m': left, right or boundary mark
 - '%n': newline
 - '%x00': print a byte from a hex code
diff --git a/color.c b/color.c
index fc0b72ad59..915d7a97f6 100644
--- a/color.c
+++ b/color.c
@@ -40,30 +40,41 @@ static int parse_attr(const char *name, int len)
 }
 
 void color_parse(const char *value, const char *var, char *dst)
+{
+	color_parse_mem(value, strlen(value), var, dst);
+}
+
+void color_parse_mem(const char *value, int value_len, const char *var,
+		char *dst)
 {
 	const char *ptr = value;
+	int len = value_len;
 	int attr = -1;
 	int fg = -2;
 	int bg = -2;
 
-	if (!strcasecmp(value, "reset")) {
+	if (!strncasecmp(value, "reset", len)) {
 		strcpy(dst, "\033[m");
 		return;
 	}
 
 	/* [fg [bg]] [attr] */
-	while (*ptr) {
+	while (len > 0) {
 		const char *word = ptr;
-		int val, len = 0;
+		int val, wordlen = 0;
 
-		while (word[len] && !isspace(word[len]))
-			len++;
+		while (len > 0 && !isspace(word[wordlen])) {
+			wordlen++;
+			len--;
+		}
 
-		ptr = word + len;
-		while (*ptr && isspace(*ptr))
+		ptr = word + wordlen;
+		while (len > 0 && isspace(*ptr)) {
 			ptr++;
+			len--;
+		}
 
-		val = parse_color(word, len);
+		val = parse_color(word, wordlen);
 		if (val >= -1) {
 			if (fg == -2) {
 				fg = val;
@@ -75,7 +86,7 @@ void color_parse(const char *value, const char *var, char *dst)
 			}
 			goto bad;
 		}
-		val = parse_attr(word, len);
+		val = parse_attr(word, wordlen);
 		if (val < 0 || attr != -1)
 			goto bad;
 		attr = val;
@@ -115,7 +126,7 @@ void color_parse(const char *value, const char *var, char *dst)
 	*dst = 0;
 	return;
 bad:
-	die("bad config value '%s' for variable '%s'", value, var);
+	die("bad color value '%.*s' for variable '%s'", value_len, value, var);
 }
 
 int git_config_colorbool(const char *var, const char *value, int stdout_is_tty)
diff --git a/color.h b/color.h
index 6cf5c88aaf..70660999df 100644
--- a/color.h
+++ b/color.h
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ extern int git_use_color_default;
 int git_color_default_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb);
 
 int git_config_colorbool(const char *var, const char *value, int stdout_is_tty);
-void color_parse(const char *var, const char *value, char *dst);
+void color_parse(const char *value, const char *var, char *dst);
+void color_parse_mem(const char *value, int len, const char *var, char *dst);
 int color_fprintf(FILE *fp, const char *color, const char *fmt, ...);
 int color_fprintf_ln(FILE *fp, const char *color, const char *fmt, ...);
 
diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index 421d9c5bca..cc460b5697 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "string-list.h"
 #include "mailmap.h"
 #include "log-tree.h"
+#include "color.h"
 
 static char *user_format;
 
@@ -554,6 +555,17 @@ static size_t format_commit_item(struct strbuf *sb, const char *placeholder,
 	/* these are independent of the commit */
 	switch (placeholder[0]) {
 	case 'C':
+		if (placeholder[1] == '(') {
+			const char *end = strchr(placeholder + 2, ')');
+			char color[COLOR_MAXLEN];
+			if (!end)
+				return 0;
+			color_parse_mem(placeholder + 2,
+					end - (placeholder + 2),
+					"--pretty format", color);
+			strbuf_addstr(sb, color);
+			return end - placeholder + 1;
+		}
 		if (!prefixcmp(placeholder + 1, "red")) {
 			strbuf_addstr(sb, "\033[31m");
 			return 4;
diff --git a/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh b/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
index 86bf7e14ba..59d1f6283b 100755
--- a/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
+++ b/t/t6006-rev-list-format.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ touch foo && git add foo && git commit -m "added foo" &&
 test_format() {
 	cat >expect.$1
 	test_expect_success "format $1" "
-git rev-list --pretty=format:$2 master >output.$1 &&
+git rev-list --pretty=format:'$2' master >output.$1 &&
 test_cmp expect.$1 output.$1
 "
 }
@@ -101,6 +101,13 @@ commit 86c75cfd708a0e5868dc876ed5b8bb66c80b4873
 foobarbazxyzzy
 EOF
 
+test_format advanced-colors '%C(red yellow bold)foo%C(reset)' <<'EOF'
+commit 131a310eb913d107dd3c09a65d1651175898735d
+foo
+commit 86c75cfd708a0e5868dc876ed5b8bb66c80b4873
+foo
+EOF
+
 cat >commit-msg <<'EOF'
 Test printing of complex bodies