diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index 93c561322..2c5551061 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -129,8 +129,10 @@ Other changes:
 * <fail> no supports builds to fail based on conditions via if and
   unless attributes.
 
-* Ant now comes with a BuildLogger implementation that can send emails
-  containing a log of the build process (MailLogger).
+* Ant now comes with two new BuildLogger implementations - one that 
+  can send emails containing a log of the build process (MailLogger);
+  the other that colorizes the output based on message levels using
+  ANSI color code escape sequences (AnsiColorLogger).
 
 * A "package" mapper type has been added to allow package directory
   names replaced with the dotted form.
diff --git a/docs/manual/listeners.html b/docs/manual/listeners.html
index 8b5daa157..30050e4d8 100644
--- a/docs/manual/listeners.html
+++ b/docs/manual/listeners.html
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 <h2><a name="Overview">Overview</a></h2>
 
-<p>Ant has two related features to allow the build process to be monitored: 
+<p>Ant has two related features to allow the build process to be monitored:
 listeners and loggers.</p>
 
 <h3><a name="Listeners">Listeners</a></h3>
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ listeners and loggers.</p>
 <p>Loggers extend the capabilities of listeners and add the following features:</p>
 
 <ul>
-  <li>Receives a handle to the standard output and error print streams and 
+  <li>Receives a handle to the standard output and error print streams and
   therefore can log information to the console or the -logfile specified file.</li>
   <li>Logging level (-quiet, -verbose, -debug) aware</li>
   <li>Emacs-mode aware</li>
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ listeners and loggers.</p>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="33%"><code><a href="#DefaultLogger">org.apache.tools.ant.DefaultLogger</a></code></td>
-    <td width="33%">The logger used implicitly unless overridden with the 
+    <td width="33%">The logger used implicitly unless overridden with the
     <code>-logger</code> command-line switch.</td>
     <td width="34%">BuildLogger</td>
   </tr>
@@ -61,10 +61,16 @@ listeners and loggers.</p>
   <tr>
     <td width="33%"><code><a href="#MailLogger">
     org.apache.tools.ant.listener.MailLogger</a></code></td>
-    <td width="33%">Extends DefaultLogger such that output is still generated 
+    <td width="33%">Extends DefaultLogger such that output is still generated
     the same, and when the build is finished an e-mail can be sent.</td>
     <td width="34%">BuildLogger</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td width="33%"><code><a href="#AnsiColorLogger">
+    org.apache.tools.ant.listener.AnsiColorLogger</a></code></td>
+    <td width="33%">Colorifies the build output.</td>
+    <td width="34%">BuildLogger</td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="33%"><code><a href="#Log4jListener">
     org.apache.tools.ant.listener.Log4jListener</a></code></td>
@@ -99,8 +105,8 @@ listeners and loggers.</p>
 
 <h3><a name="MailLogger">MailLogger</a></h3>
 
-<p>The MailLogger captures all output logged through DefaultLogger (standard Ant 
-output) and will send success and failure messages to unique e-mail lists, with 
+<p>The MailLogger captures all output logged through DefaultLogger (standard Ant
+output) and will send success and failure messages to unique e-mail lists, with
 control for turning off success or failure messages individually.</p>
 <p>Properties controlling the operation of MailLogger:</p>
 <table border="1" cellspacing="1" width="100%" id="AutoNumber2">
@@ -161,22 +167,97 @@ control for turning off success or failure messages individually.</p>
 
 </blockquote>
 
+<h3><a name="AnsiColorLogger">AnsiColorLogger</a></h3>
+
+<p>The AnsiColorLogger adds color to the standard Ant output
+by prefixing and suffixing ANSI color code escape sequences to
+it.  It is just an extension of <a href="#DefaultLogger">DefaultLogger</a>
+and hence provides all features that DefaultLogger does.</p>
+<p>AnsiColorLogger differentiates the output by assigning
+different colors depending upon the type of the message.</p>
+<p>If used with the -logfile option, the output file
+will contain all the necessary escape codes to
+display the text in colorized mode when displayed
+in the console using applications like cat, more, etc.</p>
+<p>This is designed to work on terminals that support ANSI
+color codes.  It works on XTerm, ETerm, Win9x Console
+(with ANSI.SYS loaded.), etc.</p>
+<p><Strong>NOTE:</Strong>
+It doesn't work on WinNT even when a COMMAND.COM console loaded with
+ANSI.SYS is used.</p>
+<p>If the user wishes to override the default colors
+with custom ones, a file containing zero or more of the
+custom color key-value pairs must be created.  The recognized keys
+and their default values are shown below:</p><code><pre>
+AnsiColorLogger.ERROR_COLOR=2;31
+AnsiColorLogger.WARNING_COLOR=2;35
+AnsiColorLogger.INFO_COLOR=2;36
+AnsiColorLogger.VERBOSE_COLOR=2;32
+AnsiColorLogger.DEBUG_COLOR=2;34</pre></code>
+<p>Each key takes as value a color combination defined as
+<b>Attribute;Foreground;Background</b>.  In the above example, background
+value has not been used.</p>
+<p>This file must be specfied as the value of a system variable
+named ant.logger.defaults and passed as an argument using the -D
+option to the <b>java</b> command that invokes the Ant application.
+An easy way to achieve this is to add -Dant.logger.defaults=
+<i>/path/to/your/file</i> to the ANT_OPTS environment variable.
+Ant's launching script recognizes this flag and will pass it to
+the java command appropriately.</p>
+<p>Format:</p><pre>
+AnsiColorLogger.*=Attribute;Foreground;Background
+
+Attribute is one of the following:
+0 -> Reset All Attributes (return to normal mode)
+1 -> Bright (Usually turns on BOLD)
+2 -> Dim
+3 -> Underline
+5 -> link
+7 -> Reverse
+8 -> Hidden
+
+Foreground is one of the following:
+30 -> Black
+31 -> Red
+32 -> Green
+33 -> Yellow
+34 -> Blue
+35 -> Magenta
+36 -> Cyan
+37 -> White
+
+Background is one of the following:
+40 -> Black
+41 -> Red
+42 -> Green
+43 -> Yellow
+44 -> Blue
+45 -> Magenta
+46 -> Cyan
+47 -> White</pre>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p><code>ant -logger org.apache.tools.ant.listener.AnsiColorLogger</code></p>
+
+</blockquote>
+
 <h3><a name="Log4jListener">Log4jListener</a></h3>
 
-<p>Passes build events to Log4j, using the full classname's of the generator of 
+<p>Passes build events to Log4j, using the full classname's of the generator of
 each build event as the category:</p>
 
 <ul>
   <li>build started / build finished - org.apache.tools.ant.Project</li>
   <li>target started / target finished - org.apache.tools.ant.Target</li>
   <li>task started / task finished - the fully qualified classname of the task</li>
-  <li>message logged - the classname of one of the above, so if a task logs a 
+  <li>message logged - the classname of one of the above, so if a task logs a
   message, its classname is the category used, and so on.</li>
 </ul>
 
-<p>All start events are logged as INFO.&nbsp; Finish events are either logged as 
-INFO or ERROR depending on whether the build failed during that stage. Message 
-events are logged according to their Ant logging level, mapping directly to a 
+<p>All start events are logged as INFO.&nbsp; Finish events are either logged as
+INFO or ERROR depending on whether the build failed during that stage. Message
+events are logged according to their Ant logging level, mapping directly to a
 corresponding Log4j level.</p>
 
 <blockquote>
@@ -187,7 +268,7 @@ corresponding Log4j level.</p>
 
 <h3><a name="XmlLogger">XmlLogger</a></h3>
 
-<p>Writes all build information out to an XML file named log.xml, or the value 
+<p>Writes all build information out to an XML file named log.xml, or the value
 of the XmlLogger.file property if present.</p>
 
 <blockquote>
@@ -198,18 +279,18 @@ of the XmlLogger.file property if present.</p>
 
 <h2><a name="dev">Writing your own</a></h2>
 
-<p>See the <a href="develop.html#buildevents">Build Events</a> section for 
+<p>See the <a href="develop.html#buildevents">Build Events</a> section for
 developers.</p>
 
 <p>Notes:</p>
 
 <ul>
-  <li>A listener or logger should not write to standard output or error - Ant 
+  <li>A listener or logger should not write to standard output or error - Ant
   captures these internally and may cause an infinite loop.</li>
 </ul>
 
 <hr>
-<p align="center">Copyright &copy; 2001 Apache Software Foundation. All rights
+<p align="center">Copyright &copy; 2002 Apache Software Foundation. All rights
 Reserved.</p>
 
 </body>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/DefaultLogger.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/DefaultLogger.java
index e58ab262b..9defd8a45 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/DefaultLogger.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/DefaultLogger.java
@@ -164,9 +164,9 @@ public class DefaultLogger implements BuildLogger {
 
         String msg = message.toString();
         if (error == null) {
-            out.println(msg);
+            printMessage(msg, out, Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
         } else {
-            err.println(msg);
+            printMessage(msg, err, Project.MSG_ERR);
         }
         log(msg);
     }
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ public class DefaultLogger implements BuildLogger {
     public void targetStarted(BuildEvent event) {
         if (Project.MSG_INFO <= msgOutputLevel) {
             String msg = StringUtils.LINE_SEP + event.getTarget().getName() + ":";
-            out.println(msg);
+            printMessage(msg, out, event.getPriority());
             log(msg);
         }
     }
@@ -186,8 +186,9 @@ public class DefaultLogger implements BuildLogger {
     public void taskFinished(BuildEvent event) {}
 
     public void messageLogged(BuildEvent event) {
+        int priority = event.getPriority();
         // Filter out messages based on priority
-        if (event.getPriority() <= msgOutputLevel) {
+        if (priority <= msgOutputLevel) {
 
             StringBuffer message = new StringBuffer();
             // Print out the name of the task if we're in one
@@ -205,10 +206,10 @@ public class DefaultLogger implements BuildLogger {
 
             message.append(event.getMessage());
             String msg = message.toString();
-            if (event.getPriority() != Project.MSG_ERR) {
-                out.println(msg);
+            if (priority != Project.MSG_ERR) {
+                printMessage(msg, out, priority);
             } else {
-                err.println(msg);
+                printMessage(msg, err, priority);
             }
             log(msg);
         }
@@ -223,19 +224,24 @@ public class DefaultLogger implements BuildLogger {
             return Long.toString(minutes) + " minute"
                 + (minutes == 1 ? " " : "s ")
                 + Long.toString(seconds%60) + " second"
-                + (seconds%60 > 1 ? "s" : "");
+                + (seconds%60 == 1 ? "" : "s");
         }
         else {
             return Long.toString(seconds) + " second"
-                + (seconds%60 > 1 ? "s" : "");
+                + (seconds%60 == 1 ? "" : "s");
         }
 
     }
 
+    protected void printMessage(final String message,
+                                final PrintStream stream,
+                                final int priority) {
+        stream.println(message);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Empty implementation which allows subclasses to receive the
      * same output that is generated here.
      */
     protected void log(String message) {}
-
 }
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/AnsiColorLogger.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/AnsiColorLogger.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..96e0688f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/AnsiColorLogger.java
@@ -0,0 +1,265 @@
+/*
+ *  The Apache Software License, Version 1.1
+ *
+ *  Copyright (c) 2002 The Apache Software Foundation.  All rights
+ *  reserved.
+ *
+ *  Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+ *  modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+ *  are met:
+ *
+ *  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ *  notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ *
+ *  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+ *  notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in
+ *  the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
+ *  distribution.
+ *
+ *  3. The end-user documentation included with the redistribution, if
+ *  any, must include the following acknowlegement:
+ *  "This product includes software developed by the
+ *  Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/)."
+ *  Alternately, this acknowlegement may appear in the software itself,
+ *  if and wherever such third-party acknowlegements normally appear.
+ *
+ *  4. The names "The Jakarta Project", "Ant", and "Apache Software
+ *  Foundation" must not be used to endorse or promote products derived
+ *  from this software without prior written permission. For written
+ *  permission, please contact apache@apache.org.
+ *
+ *  5. Products derived from this software may not be called "Apache"
+ *  nor may "Apache" appear in their names without prior written
+ *  permission of the Apache Group.
+ *
+ *  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED
+ *  WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
+ *  OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
+ *  DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE APACHE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION OR
+ *  ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+ *  SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+ *  LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
+ *  USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
+ *  ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
+ *  OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT
+ *  OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
+ *  SUCH DAMAGE.
+ *  ====================================================================
+ *
+ *  This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many
+ *  individuals on behalf of the Apache Software Foundation.  For more
+ *  information on the Apache Software Foundation, please see
+ *  <http://www.apache.org/>.
+ */
+package org.apache.tools.ant.listener;
+
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import org.apache.tools.ant.DefaultLogger;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
+
+/**
+ * Uses ANSI Color Code Sequences to colorize messages
+ * sent to the console.
+ *
+ * If used with the -logfile option, the output file
+ * will contain all the necessary escape codes to
+ * display the text in colorized mode when displayed
+ * in the console using applications like cat, more,
+ * etc.
+ *
+ * This is designed to work on terminals that support ANSI
+ * color codes.  It works on XTerm, ETerm, Mindterm, etc.
+ * It also works on Win9x (with ANSI.SYS loaded.)
+ *
+ * NOTE:
+ * It doesn't work on WinNT's COMMAND.COM even with
+ * ANSI.SYS loaded.
+ *
+ * The default colors used for differentiating
+ * the message levels can be changed by editing the
+ * /org/apache/tools/ant/listener/defaults.properties
+ * file.
+ * This file contains 5 key/value pairs:
+ * AnsiColorLogger.ERROR_COLOR=2;31
+ * AnsiColorLogger.WARNING_COLOR=2;35
+ * AnsiColorLogger.INFO_COLOR=2;36
+ * AnsiColorLogger.VERBOSE_COLOR=2;32
+ * AnsiColorLogger.DEBUG_COLOR=2;34
+ *
+ * Another option is to pass a system variable named
+ * ant.logger.defaults, with value set to the path of
+ * the file that contains user defined Ansi Color
+ * Codes, to the <B>java</B> command using -D option.
+ *
+ * To change these colors use the following chart:
+ *
+ *      <B>ANSI COLOR LOGGER CONFIGURATION</B>
+ *
+ * Format for AnsiColorLogger.*=
+ *  Attribute;Foreground;Background
+ *
+ *  Attribute is one of the following:
+ *  0 -> Reset All Attributes (return to normal mode)
+ *  1 -> Bright (Usually turns on BOLD)
+ *  2 -> Dim
+ *  3 -> Underline
+ *  5 -> link
+ *  7 -> Reverse
+ *  8 -> Hidden
+ *
+ *  Foreground is one of the following:
+ *  30 -> Black
+ *  31 -> Red
+ *  32 -> Green
+ *  33 -> Yellow
+ *  34 -> Blue
+ *  35 -> Magenta
+ *  36 -> Cyan
+ *  37 -> White
+ *
+ *  Background is one of the following:
+ *  40 -> Black
+ *  41 -> Red
+ *  42 -> Green
+ *  43 -> Yellow
+ *  44 -> Blue
+ *  45 -> Magenta
+ *  46 -> Cyan
+ *  47 -> White
+ *
+ * @author <a href="mailto:umagesh@apache.org">Magesh Umasankar</a>
+ */
+public final class AnsiColorLogger extends DefaultLogger {
+
+    private static final int ATTR_NORMAL = 0;
+    private static final int ATTR_BRIGHT = 1;
+    private static final int ATTR_DIM = 2;
+    private static final int ATTR_UNDERLINE = 3;
+    private static final int ATTR_BLINK = 5;
+    private static final int ATTR_REVERSE = 7;
+    private static final int ATTR_HIDDEN = 8;
+
+    private static final int FG_BLACK = 30;
+    private static final int FG_RED = 31;
+    private static final int FG_GREEN = 32;
+    private static final int FG_YELLOW = 33;
+    private static final int FG_BLUE = 34;
+    private static final int FG_MAGENTA = 35;
+    private static final int FG_CYAN = 36;
+    private static final int FG_WHITE = 37;
+
+    private static final int BG_BLACK = 40;
+    private static final int BG_RED = 41;
+    private static final int BG_GREEN = 42;
+    private static final int BG_YELLOW = 44;
+    private static final int BG_BLUE = 44;
+    private static final int BG_MAGENTA = 45;
+    private static final int BG_CYAN = 46;
+    private static final int BG_WHITE = 47;
+
+    private static final String PREFIX = "\u001b[";
+    private static final String SUFFIX = "m";
+    private static final char SEPARATOR = ';';
+    private static final String END_COLOR = PREFIX + SUFFIX;
+
+    private String errColor = PREFIX + ATTR_DIM + SEPARATOR + FG_RED + SUFFIX;
+    private String warnColor = PREFIX + ATTR_DIM + SEPARATOR + FG_MAGENTA + SUFFIX;
+    private String infoColor = PREFIX + ATTR_DIM + SEPARATOR + FG_CYAN + SUFFIX;
+    private String verboseColor = PREFIX + ATTR_DIM + SEPARATOR + FG_GREEN + SUFFIX;
+    private String debugColor = PREFIX + ATTR_DIM + SEPARATOR + FG_BLUE + SUFFIX;
+
+    private boolean colorsSet = false;
+
+    private final void setColors() {
+        String userColorFile = System.getProperty("ant.logger.defaults");
+        String systemColorFile =
+            "/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/defaults.properties";
+
+        InputStream in = null;
+
+        try {
+            Properties prop = new Properties();
+
+            if (userColorFile != null) {
+                in = new FileInputStream(userColorFile);
+            } else {
+                in = getClass().getResourceAsStream(systemColorFile);
+            }
+
+            if (in != null) {
+                prop.load(in);
+            }
+
+            String err = prop.getProperty("AnsiColorLogger.ERROR_COLOR");
+            String warn = prop.getProperty("AnsiColorLogger.WARNING_COLOR");
+            String info = prop.getProperty("AnsiColorLogger.INFO_COLOR");
+            String verbose = prop.getProperty("AnsiColorLogger.VERBOSE_COLOR");
+            String debug = prop.getProperty("AnsiColorLogger.DEBUG_COLOR");
+            if (err != null) {
+                errColor = PREFIX + err + SUFFIX;
+            }
+            if (warn != null) {
+                warnColor = PREFIX + warn + SUFFIX;
+            }
+            if (info != null) {
+                infoColor = PREFIX + info + SUFFIX;
+            }
+            if (verbose != null) {
+                verboseColor = PREFIX + verbose + SUFFIX;
+            }
+            if (debug != null) {
+                debugColor = PREFIX + debug + SUFFIX;
+            }
+        } catch (IOException ioe) {
+            //Ignore - we will use the defaults.
+        } finally {
+            if (in != null) {
+                try {
+                    in.close();
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    //Ignore - We do not want this to stop the build.
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected final void printMessage(final String message,
+                                      final PrintStream stream,
+                                      final int priority) {
+        if (!colorsSet) {
+            setColors();
+            colorsSet = true;
+        }
+
+        final StringBuffer msg = new StringBuffer(message);
+        switch (priority) {
+            case Project.MSG_ERR:
+                msg.insert(0, errColor);
+                msg.append(END_COLOR);
+                break;
+            case Project.MSG_WARN:
+                msg.insert(0, warnColor);
+                msg.append(END_COLOR);
+                break;
+            case Project.MSG_INFO:
+                msg.insert(0, infoColor);
+                msg.append(END_COLOR);
+                break;
+            case Project.MSG_VERBOSE:
+                msg.insert(0, verboseColor);
+                msg.append(END_COLOR);
+                break;
+            case Project.MSG_DEBUG:
+                msg.insert(0, debugColor);
+                msg.append(END_COLOR);
+                break;
+        }
+        final String strmessage = msg.toString();
+        stream.println(strmessage);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/defaults.properties b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/defaults.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f60a3fd5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/listener/defaults.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+####################################################
+#
+#           ANSI COLOR LOGGER CONFIGURATION
+#
+# Format for AnsiColorLogger.*=
+#  Attribute;Foreground;Background
+#
+#  Attribute is one of the following:
+#  0 -> Reset All Attributes (return to normal mode)
+#  1 -> Bright (Usually turns on BOLD)
+#  2 -> Dim
+#  3 -> Underline
+#  5 -> link
+#  7 -> Reverse
+#  8 -> Hidden
+#  
+#  Foreground is one of the following:
+#  30 -> Black
+#  31 -> Red
+#  32 -> Green
+#  33 -> Yellow
+#  34 -> Blue
+#  35 -> Magenta
+#  36 -> Cyan
+#  37 -> White
+#
+#  Background is one of the following:
+#  40 -> Black
+#  41 -> Red
+#  42 -> Green
+#  43 -> Yellow
+#  44 -> Blue
+#  45 -> Magenta
+#  46 -> Cyan
+#  47 -> White
+#
+####################################################
+
+AnsiColorLogger.ERROR_COLOR=2;31
+AnsiColorLogger.WARNING_COLOR=2;35
+AnsiColorLogger.INFO_COLOR=2;36
+AnsiColorLogger.VERBOSE_COLOR=2;32
+AnsiColorLogger.DEBUG_COLOR=2;34