diff --git a/activerecord/CHANGELOG b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
index 4ea883623e36b36f6e49924ed8ae6f5d889ee750..23daf02123071e03d2914150936b7761c71e8f29 100644
--- a/activerecord/CHANGELOG
+++ b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Added ActiveRecord::Base.colorize_logging to control whether to use colors in logs or not (on by default)
+
 * Added support for timestamp with time zone in PostgreSQL #560 [Scott Barron]
 
 * Added MultiparameterAssignmentErrors and AttributeAssignmentError exceptions #777 [demetrius]. Documentation:
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 2725e3c7f56b24bda93d5ec5868334260d848c32..b198f0a6361c0948d3bf44fe572c8a0dcbee6b18 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -264,6 +264,12 @@ def self.inherited(child) #:nodoc:
     cattr_accessor :pluralize_table_names
     @@pluralize_table_names = true
 
+    # Determines whether or not to use ANSI codes to colorize the logging statements committed by the connection adapter. These colors
+    # makes it much easier to overview things during debugging (when used through a reader like +tail+ and on a black background), but
+    # may complicate matters if you use software like syslog. This is true, by default.
+    cattr_accessor :colorize_logging
+    @@colorize_logging = true
+
     # Determines whether to use Time.local (using :local) or Time.utc (using :utc) when pulling dates and times from the database.
     # This is set to :local by default.
     cattr_accessor :default_timezone
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_adapter.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_adapter.rb
index d686d7124690eaac297dfa5f57950131882a9a24..b0865d9aab6b328c1259df656d1beee9c76a4256 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_adapter.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_adapter.rb
@@ -422,16 +422,20 @@ def log_info(sql, name, runtime)
         end
 
         def format_log_entry(message, dump = nil)
-          if @@row_even then
-            @@row_even = false; caller_color = "1;32"; message_color = "4;33"; dump_color = "1;37"
+          if ActiveRecord::Base.colorize_logging
+            if @@row_even then
+              @@row_even = false; caller_color = "1;32"; message_color = "4;33"; dump_color = "1;37"
+            else
+              @@row_even = true; caller_color = "1;36"; message_color = "4;35"; dump_color = "0;37"
+            end
+          
+            log_entry = "  \e[#{message_color}m#{message}\e[m"
+            log_entry << "   \e[#{dump_color}m%s\e[m" % dump if dump.kind_of?(String) && !dump.nil?
+            log_entry << "   \e[#{dump_color}m%p\e[m" % dump if !dump.kind_of?(String) && !dump.nil?
+            log_entry
           else
-            @@row_even = true; caller_color = "1;36"; message_color = "4;35"; dump_color = "0;37"
+            "%s  %s" % [message, dump]
           end
-          
-          log_entry = "  \e[#{message_color}m#{message}\e[m"
-          log_entry << "   \e[#{dump_color}m%s\e[m" % dump if dump.kind_of?(String) && !dump.nil?
-          log_entry << "   \e[#{dump_color}m%p\e[m" % dump if !dump.kind_of?(String) && !dump.nil?
-          log_entry
         end
     end