diff --git a/doc/api/api_changes/2015-08-17-remove_color_cycle.rst b/doc/api/api_changes/2015-08-17-remove_color_cycle.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1d92d74ab1cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/api_changes/2015-08-17-remove_color_cycle.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+`color_cycle` deprecated
+````````````````````````
+
+In light of the new property cycling feature,
+the Axes method *set_color_cycle* is now deprecated.
+Calling this method will replace the current property cycle with
+one that cycles just the given colors.
+
+Similarly, the rc parameter *axes.color_cycle* is also deprecated in
+lieu of the new *axes.prop_cycle* parameter. Having both parameters in
+the same rc file is not recommended as the result cannot be
+predicted. For compatibility, setting *axes.color_cycle* will
+replace the cycler in *axes.prop_cycle* with a color cycle.
+Accessing *axes.color_cycle* will return just the color portion
+of the property cycle, if it exists.
+
+Timeline for removal has not been set.
diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new/rcparams.rst b/doc/users/whats_new/rcparams.rst
index 3e0db2815628..68b37dc29ef7 100644
--- a/doc/users/whats_new/rcparams.rst
+++ b/doc/users/whats_new/rcparams.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+Added ``axes.prop_cycle`` key to rcParams
+`````````````````````````````````````````
+This is a more generic form of the now-deprecated ``axes.color_cycle`` param.
+Now, we can cycle more than just colors, but also linestyles, hatches,
+and just about any other artist property. Cycler notation is used for
+defining proprty cycles. Adding cyclers together will be like you are
+`zip()`-ing together two or more property cycles together::
+
+    axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', 'rgb') + cycler('lw', [1, 2, 3])
+
+You can even multiply cyclers, which is like using `itertools.product()`
+on two or more property cycles. Remember to use parentheses if writing
+a multi-line `prop_cycle` parameter.
+
+..plot:: mpl_examples/color/color_cycle_demo.py
+
 Added ``errorbar.capsize`` key to rcParams
 ``````````````````````````````````````````
 Controls the length of end caps on error bars. If set to zero, errorbars
diff --git a/examples/color/color_cycle_demo.py b/examples/color/color_cycle_demo.py
index 5fdd01cd287e..647549e77bc2 100644
--- a/examples/color/color_cycle_demo.py
+++ b/examples/color/color_cycle_demo.py
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 """
-Demo of custom color-cycle settings to control colors for multi-line plots.
+Demo of custom property-cycle settings to control colors and such
+for multi-line plots.
 
 This example demonstrates two different APIs:
 
-    1. Setting the default rc-parameter specifying the color cycle.
-       This affects all subsequent plots.
-    2. Setting the color cycle for a specific axes. This only affects a single
-       axes.
+    1. Setting the default rc-parameter specifying the property cycle.
+       This affects all subsequent axes (but not axes already created).
+    2. Setting the property cycle for a specific axes. This only
+       affects a single axes.
 """
+from cycler import cycler
 import numpy as np
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 
@@ -17,13 +19,14 @@
 yy = np.transpose([np.sin(x + phi) for phi in offsets])
 
 plt.rc('lines', linewidth=4)
+plt.rc('axes', prop_cycle=(cycler('color', ['r', 'g', 'b', 'y']) +
+                           cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--', ':', '-.'])))
 fig, (ax0, ax1) = plt.subplots(nrows=2)
-
-plt.rc('axes', color_cycle=['r', 'g', 'b', 'y'])
 ax0.plot(yy)
 ax0.set_title('Set default color cycle to rgby')
 
-ax1.set_color_cycle(['c', 'm', 'y', 'k'])
+ax1.set_prop_cycle(cycler('color', ['c', 'm', 'y', 'k']) +
+                   cycler('lw', [1, 2, 3, 4]))
 ax1.plot(yy)
 ax1.set_title('Set axes color cycle to cmyk')
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
index c85984b87981..fee4bd4d3f7d 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@
 from matplotlib.cbook import is_string_like, mplDeprecation
 from matplotlib.compat import subprocess
 from matplotlib.rcsetup import (defaultParams,
-                                validate_backend)
+                                validate_backend,
+                                cycler)
 
 import numpy
 from matplotlib.externals.six.moves.urllib.request import urlopen
@@ -826,6 +827,8 @@ def matplotlib_fname():
     'svg.embed_char_paths': ('svg.fonttype',
                              lambda x: "path" if x else "none", None),
     'savefig.extension': ('savefig.format', lambda x: x, None),
+    'axes.color_cycle': ('axes.prop_cycle', lambda x: cycler('color', x),
+                         lambda x: [c.get('color', None) for c in x]),
     }
 
 _deprecated_ignore_map = {
@@ -1452,6 +1455,7 @@ def tk_window_focus():
     'matplotlib.tests.test_transforms',
     'matplotlib.tests.test_triangulation',
     'matplotlib.tests.test_widgets',
+    'matplotlib.tests.test_cycles',
     'matplotlib.sphinxext.tests.test_tinypages',
     'mpl_toolkits.tests.test_mplot3d',
     'mpl_toolkits.tests.test_axes_grid1',
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/artist.py b/lib/matplotlib/artist.py
index 010bcfc1daf3..e57f1a4b1290 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/artist.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/artist.py
@@ -900,13 +900,20 @@ def properties(self):
 
     def set(self, **kwargs):
         """
-        A tkstyle set command, pass *kwargs* to set properties
+        A property batch setter. Pass *kwargs* to set properties.
+        Will handle property name collisions (e.g., if both
+        'color' and 'facecolor' are specified, the property
+        with higher priority gets set last).
+
         """
         ret = []
-        for k, v in six.iteritems(kwargs):
+        for k, v in sorted(kwargs.items(), reverse=True):
             k = k.lower()
             funcName = "set_%s" % k
-            func = getattr(self, funcName)
+            func = getattr(self, funcName, None)
+            if func is None:
+               raise TypeError('There is no %s property "%s"' %
+                               (self.__class__.__name__, k))
             ret.extend([func(v)])
         return ret
 
@@ -1406,14 +1413,17 @@ def setp(obj, *args, **kwargs):
     funcvals = []
     for i in range(0, len(args) - 1, 2):
         funcvals.append((args[i], args[i + 1]))
-    funcvals.extend(kwargs.items())
+    funcvals.extend(sorted(kwargs.items(), reverse=True))
 
     ret = []
     for o in objs:
         for s, val in funcvals:
             s = s.lower()
             funcName = "set_%s" % s
-            func = getattr(o, funcName)
+            func = getattr(o, funcName, None)
+            if func is None:
+                raise TypeError('There is no %s property "%s"' %
+                                (o.__class__.__name__, s))
             ret.extend([func(val)])
     return [x for x in cbook.flatten(ret)]
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index 91c752983c08..225720985f67 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -1265,9 +1265,9 @@ def plot(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
         Return value is a list of lines that were added.
 
-        By default, each line is assigned a different color specified by a
-        'color cycle'.  To change this behavior, you can edit the
-        axes.color_cycle rcParam.
+        By default, each line is assigned a different style specified by a
+        'style cycle'.  To change this behavior, you can edit the
+        axes.prop_cycle rcParam.
 
         The following format string characters are accepted to control
         the line style or marker:
@@ -2935,8 +2935,8 @@ def xywhere(xs, ys, mask):
             l0, = self.plot(x, y, fmt, **kwargs)
 
         if ecolor is None:
-            if l0 is None:
-                ecolor = six.next(self._get_lines.color_cycle)
+            if l0 is None and 'color' in self._get_lines._prop_keys:
+                ecolor = six.next(self._get_lines.prop_cycler)['color']
             else:
                 ecolor = l0.get_color()
 
@@ -5829,8 +5829,8 @@ def hist(self, x, bins=10, range=None, normed=False, weights=None,
 
         nx = len(x)  # number of datasets
 
-        if color is None:
-            color = [six.next(self._get_lines.color_cycle)
+        if color is None and 'color' in self._get_lines._prop_keys:
+            color = [six.next(self._get_lines.prop_cycler)['color']
                      for i in xrange(nx)]
         else:
             color = mcolors.colorConverter.to_rgba_array(color)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
index 50afb7bbfcc3..48562309ac0d 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 from matplotlib.offsetbox import OffsetBox
 from matplotlib.artist import allow_rasterization
 from matplotlib.cbook import iterable
+from matplotlib.rcsetup import cycler
 
 rcParams = matplotlib.rcParams
 
@@ -138,7 +139,7 @@ class _process_plot_var_args(object):
     def __init__(self, axes, command='plot'):
         self.axes = axes
         self.command = command
-        self.set_color_cycle()
+        self.set_prop_cycle()
 
     def __getstate__(self):
         # note: it is not possible to pickle a itertools.cycle instance
@@ -146,15 +147,22 @@ def __getstate__(self):
 
     def __setstate__(self, state):
         self.__dict__ = state.copy()
-        self.set_color_cycle()
+        self.set_prop_cycle()
+
+    def set_prop_cycle(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        if not (args or kwargs) or (len(args) == 1 and args[0] is None):
+            prop_cycler = rcParams['axes.prop_cycle']
+            if prop_cycler is None and 'axes.color_cycle' in rcParams:
+                clist = rcParams['axes.color_cycle']
+                prop_cycler = cycler('color', clist)
+        else:
+            prop_cycler = cycler(*args, **kwargs)
 
-    def set_color_cycle(self, clist=None):
-        if clist is None:
-            clist = rcParams['axes.color_cycle']
-        self.color_cycle = itertools.cycle(clist)
+        self.prop_cycler = itertools.cycle(prop_cycler)
+        # This should make a copy
+        self._prop_keys = prop_cycler.keys
 
     def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-
         if self.axes.xaxis is not None and self.axes.yaxis is not None:
             xunits = kwargs.pop('xunits', self.axes.xaxis.units)
 
@@ -177,21 +185,11 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
     def set_lineprops(self, line, **kwargs):
         assert self.command == 'plot', 'set_lineprops only works with "plot"'
-        for key, val in six.iteritems(kwargs):
-            funcName = "set_%s" % key
-            if not hasattr(line, funcName):
-                raise TypeError('There is no line property "%s"' % key)
-            func = getattr(line, funcName)
-            func(val)
+        line.set(**kwargs)
 
     def set_patchprops(self, fill_poly, **kwargs):
         assert self.command == 'fill', 'set_patchprops only works with "fill"'
-        for key, val in six.iteritems(kwargs):
-            funcName = "set_%s" % key
-            if not hasattr(fill_poly, funcName):
-                raise TypeError('There is no patch property "%s"' % key)
-            func = getattr(fill_poly, funcName)
-            func(val)
+        fill_poly.set(**kwargs)
 
     def _xy_from_xy(self, x, y):
         if self.axes.xaxis is not None and self.axes.yaxis is not None:
@@ -229,24 +227,98 @@ def _xy_from_xy(self, x, y):
             y = y[:, np.newaxis]
         return x, y
 
+    def _getdefaults(self, ignore, *kwargs):
+        """
+        Only advance the cycler if the cycler has information that
+        is not specified in any of the supplied tuple of dicts.
+        Ignore any keys specified in the `ignore` set.
+
+        Returns a copy of defaults dictionary if there are any
+        keys that are not found in any of the supplied dictionaries.
+        If the supplied dictionaries have non-None values for
+        everything the property cycler has, then just return
+        an empty dictionary. Ignored keys are excluded from the
+        returned dictionary.
+
+        """
+        prop_keys = self._prop_keys
+        if ignore is None:
+            ignore = set([])
+        prop_keys = prop_keys - ignore
+
+        if any(all(kw.get(k, None) is None for kw in kwargs)
+               for k in prop_keys):
+            # Need to copy this dictionary or else the next time around
+            # in the cycle, the dictionary could be missing entries.
+            default_dict = six.next(self.prop_cycler).copy()
+            for p in ignore:
+                default_dict.pop(p, None)
+        else:
+            default_dict = {}
+        return default_dict
+
+    def _setdefaults(self, defaults, *kwargs):
+        """
+        Given a defaults dictionary, and any other dictionaries,
+        update those other dictionaries with information in defaults if
+        none of the other dictionaries contains that information.
+
+        """
+        for k in defaults:
+            if all(kw.get(k, None) is None for kw in kwargs):
+                for kw in kwargs:
+                    kw[k] = defaults[k]
+
     def _makeline(self, x, y, kw, kwargs):
         kw = kw.copy()  # Don't modify the original kw.
         kwargs = kwargs.copy()
-        if kw.get('color', None) is None and kwargs.get('color', None) is None:
-            kwargs['color'] = kw['color'] = six.next(self.color_cycle)
-            # (can't use setdefault because it always evaluates
-            # its second argument)
-        seg = mlines.Line2D(x, y,
-                            **kw
-                            )
+        default_dict = self._getdefaults(None, kw, kwargs)
+        self._setdefaults(default_dict, kw, kwargs)
+        seg = mlines.Line2D(x, y, **kw)
         self.set_lineprops(seg, **kwargs)
         return seg
 
     def _makefill(self, x, y, kw, kwargs):
-        try:
-            facecolor = kw['color']
-        except KeyError:
-            facecolor = six.next(self.color_cycle)
+        kw = kw.copy()  # Don't modify the original kw.
+        kwargs = kwargs.copy()
+
+        # Ignore 'marker'-related properties as they aren't Polygon
+        # properties, but they are Line2D properties, and so they are
+        # likely to appear in the default cycler construction.
+        # This is done here to the defaults dictionary as opposed to the
+        # other two dictionaries because we do want to capture when a
+        # *user* explicitly specifies a marker which should be an error.
+        # We also want to prevent advancing the cycler if there are no
+        # defaults needed after ignoring the given properties.
+        ignores = set(['marker', 'markersize', 'markeredgecolor',
+                       'markerfacecolor', 'markeredgewidth'])
+        # Also ignore anything provided by *kwargs*.
+        for k, v in six.iteritems(kwargs):
+            if v is not None:
+                ignores.add(k)
+
+        # Only using the first dictionary to use as basis
+        # for getting defaults for back-compat reasons.
+        # Doing it with both seems to mess things up in
+        # various places (probably due to logic bugs elsewhere).
+        default_dict = self._getdefaults(ignores, kw)
+        self._setdefaults(default_dict, kw)
+
+        # Looks like we don't want "color" to be interpreted to
+        # mean both facecolor and edgecolor for some reason.
+        # So the "kw" dictionary is thrown out, and only its
+        # 'color' value is kept and translated as a 'facecolor'.
+        # This design should probably be revisited as it increases
+        # complexity.
+        facecolor = kw.get('color', None)
+
+        # Throw out 'color' as it is now handled as a facecolor
+        default_dict.pop('color', None)
+
+        # To get other properties set from the cycler
+        # modify the kwargs dictionary.
+        self._setdefaults(default_dict, kwargs)
+
         seg = mpatches.Polygon(np.hstack((x[:, np.newaxis],
                                           y[:, np.newaxis])),
                                facecolor=facecolor,
@@ -985,14 +1057,65 @@ def clear(self):
         """clear the axes"""
         self.cla()
 
+    def set_prop_cycle(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Set the property cycle for any future plot commands on this Axes.
+
+        set_prop_cycle(arg)
+        set_prop_cycle(label, itr)
+        set_prop_cycle(label1=itr1[, label2=itr2[, ...]])
+
+        Form 1 simply sets given `Cycler` object.
+
+        Form 2 creates and sets  a `Cycler` from a label and an iterable.
+
+        Form 3 composes and sets  a `Cycler` as an inner product of the
+        pairs of keyword arguments. In other words, all of the
+        iterables are cycled simultaneously, as if through zip().
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        arg : Cycler
+            Set the given Cycler.
+            Can also be `None` to reset to the cycle defined by the
+            current style.
+
+        label : name
+            The property key. Must be a valid `Artist` property.
+            For example, 'color' or 'linestyle'. Aliases are allowed,
+            such as 'c' for 'color' and 'lw' for 'linewidth'.
+
+        itr : iterable
+            Finite-length iterable of the property values. These values
+            are validated and will raise a ValueError if invalid.
+
+        See Also
+        --------
+            :func:`cycler`      Convenience function for creating your
+                                own cyclers.
+
+        """
+        if args and kwargs:
+            raise TypeError("Cannot supply both positional and keyword "
+                            "arguments to this method.")
+        if len(args) == 1 and args[0] is None:
+            prop_cycle = None
+        else:
+            prop_cycle = cycler(*args, **kwargs)
+        self._get_lines.set_prop_cycle(prop_cycle)
+        self._get_patches_for_fill.set_prop_cycle(prop_cycle)
+
     def set_color_cycle(self, clist):
         """
         Set the color cycle for any future plot commands on this Axes.
 
         *clist* is a list of mpl color specifiers.
+
+        .. deprecated:: 1.5
         """
-        self._get_lines.set_color_cycle(clist)
-        self._get_patches_for_fill.set_color_cycle(clist)
+        cbook.warn_deprecated(
+                '1.5', name='set_color_cycle', alternative='set_prop_cycle')
+        self.set_prop_cycle('color', clist)
 
     def ishold(self):
         """return the HOLD status of the axes"""
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/bmh.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/bmh.mplstyle
index 56f2b0ed55a0..bc3831df7864 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/bmh.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/bmh.mplstyle
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ axes.edgecolor: bcbcbc
 axes.grid : True
 axes.titlesize: x-large
 axes.labelsize: large
-axes.color_cycle: 348ABD, A60628, 7A68A6, 467821, D55E00, CC79A7, 56B4E9, 009E73, F0E442, 0072B2
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['348ABD', 'A60628', '7A68A6', '467821', 'D55E00', 'CC79A7', '56B4E9', '009E73', 'F0E442', '0072B2'])
 
 legend.fancybox: True
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle
index 829b750c2cfb..d556d7a2c175 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 # information on line properties.
 lines.linewidth   : 1.0     # line width in points
 lines.linestyle   : -       # solid line
-lines.color       : b       # has no affect on plot(); see axes.color_cycle
+lines.color       : b       # has no affect on plot(); see axes.prop_cycle
 lines.marker      : None    # the default marker
 lines.markeredgewidth  : 0.5     # the line width around the marker symbol
 lines.markersize  : 6            # markersize, in points
@@ -198,7 +198,8 @@ axes.formatter.useoffset      : True    # If True, the tick label formatter
 axes.unicode_minus  : True    # use unicode for the minus symbol
                               # rather than hyphen.  See
                               # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus_and_minus_signs#Character_codes
-axes.color_cycle    : b, g, r, c, m, y, k  # color cycle for plot lines
+axes.prop_cycle    : cycler('color', 'bgrcmyk')
+                                           # color cycle for plot lines
                                            # as list of string colorspecs:
                                            # single letter, long name, or
                                            # web-style hex
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/dark_background.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/dark_background.mplstyle
index c3557c1f12b4..a8b754005bfd 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/dark_background.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/dark_background.mplstyle
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ text.color: white
 axes.facecolor: black
 axes.edgecolor: white
 axes.labelcolor: white
-axes.color_cycle: 8dd3c7, feffb3, bfbbd9, fa8174, 81b1d2, fdb462, b3de69, bc82bd, ccebc4, ffed6f
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['8dd3c7', 'feffb3', 'bfbbd9', 'fa8174', '81b1d2', 'fdb462', 'b3de69', 'bc82bd', 'ccebc4', 'ffed6f'])
 
 xtick.color: white
 ytick.color: white
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/fivethirtyeight.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/fivethirtyeight.mplstyle
index efd91ebb321b..f94046800118 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/fivethirtyeight.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/fivethirtyeight.mplstyle
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ lines.solid_capstyle: butt
 
 legend.fancybox: true
 
-axes.color_cycle: 30a2da, fc4f30, e5ae38, 6d904f, 8b8b8b
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['30a2da', 'fc4f30', 'e5ae38', '6d904f', '8b8b8b'])
 axes.facecolor: f0f0f0
 axes.labelsize: large
 axes.axisbelow: true
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/ggplot.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/ggplot.mplstyle
index 5f7e8b3b20b6..67afd83cc42d 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/ggplot.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/ggplot.mplstyle
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ axes.labelsize: large
 axes.labelcolor: 555555
 axes.axisbelow: True       # grid/ticks are below elements (e.g., lines, text)
 
-axes.color_cycle: E24A33, 348ABD, 988ED5, 777777, FBC15E, 8EBA42, FFB5B8
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['E24A33', '348ABD', '988ED5', '777777', 'FBC15E', '8EBA42', 'FFB5B8'])
                    # E24A33 : red
                    # 348ABD : blue
                    # 988ED5 : purple
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/grayscale.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/grayscale.mplstyle
index 2012b1b95d36..6a1114e40698 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/grayscale.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/grayscale.mplstyle
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ axes.facecolor: white
 axes.edgecolor: black
 axes.labelcolor: black
 # black to light gray
-axes.color_cycle: 0.00, 0.40, 0.60, 0.70
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['0.00', '0.40', '0.60', '0.70'])
 
 xtick.color: black
 ytick.color: black
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-bright.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-bright.mplstyle
index e4cc354e272b..cbc80dc76b16 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-bright.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-bright.mplstyle
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Seaborn bright palette
-axes.color_cycle: 003FFF, 03ED3A, E8000B, 8A2BE2, FFC400, 00D7FF
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['003FFF', '03ED3A', 'E8000B', '8A2BE2', 'FFC400', '00D7FF'])
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-colorblind.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-colorblind.mplstyle
index ff7f474e7fc1..adb5f34d8934 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-colorblind.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-colorblind.mplstyle
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Seaborn colorblind palette
-axes.color_cycle: 0072B2, 009E73, D55E00, CC79A7, F0E442, 56B4E9
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['0072B2', '009E73', 'D55E00', 'CC79A7', 'F0E442', '56B4E9'])
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-dark-palette.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-dark-palette.mplstyle
index 70b6c82a04cd..6f437fdf7392 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-dark-palette.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-dark-palette.mplstyle
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Seaborn dark palette
-axes.color_cycle: 001C7F, 017517, 8C0900, 7600A1, B8860B, 006374
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['001C7F', '017517', '8C0900', '7600A1', 'B8860B', '006374'])
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-deep.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-deep.mplstyle
index f06df83e5c9a..f07e06a13e80 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-deep.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-deep.mplstyle
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Seaborn deep palette
-axes.color_cycle: 4C72B0, 55A868, C44E52, 8172B2, CCB974, 64B5CD
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['4C72B0', '55A868', 'C44E52', '8172B2', 'CCB974', '64B5CD'])
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-muted.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-muted.mplstyle
index d8196d13c59d..4d7a0ae7c27a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-muted.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-muted.mplstyle
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Seaborn muted palette
-axes.color_cycle: 4878CF, 6ACC65, D65F5F, B47CC7, C4AD66, 77BEDB
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['4878CF', '6ACC65', 'D65F5F', 'B47CC7', 'C4AD66', '77BEDB'])
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-pastel.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-pastel.mplstyle
index f361a4777ef2..e5787abba29d 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-pastel.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/seaborn-pastel.mplstyle
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Seaborn pastel palette
-axes.color_cycle: 92C6FF, 97F0AA, FF9F9A, D0BBFF, FFFEA3, B0E0E6
+axes.prop_cycle: cycler('color', ['92C6FF', '97F0AA', 'FF9F9A', 'D0BBFF', 'FFFEA3', 'B0E0E6'])
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index 07875554cf75..39d4c3858c61 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import warnings
 import types
 
+from cycler import cycler
 import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.colorbar
 from matplotlib import style
@@ -394,7 +395,7 @@ def xkcd(scale=1, length=100, randomness=2):
         rcParams['grid.linewidth'] = 0.0
         rcParams['axes.grid'] = False
         rcParams['axes.unicode_minus'] = False
-        rcParams['axes.color_cycle'] = ['b', 'r', 'c', 'm']
+        rcParams['axes.prop_cycle'] = cycler('color', ['b', 'r', 'c', 'm'])
         rcParams['axes.edgecolor'] = 'black'
         rcParams['xtick.major.size'] = 8
         rcParams['xtick.major.width'] = 3
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
index e3a64ae85efe..2699311323ec 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
@@ -18,11 +18,16 @@
 
 from matplotlib.externals import six
 
+from functools import reduce
+import operator
 import os
 import warnings
 from matplotlib.fontconfig_pattern import parse_fontconfig_pattern
 from matplotlib.colors import is_color_like
 
+# Don't let the original cycler collide with our validating cycler
+from cycler import Cycler, cycler as ccycler
+
 #interactive_bk = ['gtk', 'gtkagg', 'gtkcairo', 'qt4agg',
 #                  'tkagg', 'wx', 'wxagg', 'cocoaagg', 'webagg']
 # The capitalized forms are needed for ipython at present; this may
@@ -60,8 +65,31 @@ def __call__(self, s):
                          % (self.key, s, list(six.itervalues(self.valid))))
 
 
+def _listify_validator(scalar_validator, allow_stringlist=False):
+    def f(s):
+        if isinstance(s, six.string_types):
+            try:
+                return [scalar_validator(v.strip()) for v in s.split(',')
+                        if v.strip()]
+            except Exception:
+                if allow_stringlist:
+                    # Sometimes, a list of colors might be a single string
+                    # of single-letter colornames. So give that a shot.
+                    return [scalar_validator(v.strip()) for v in s if v.strip()]
+                else:
+                    raise
+        elif type(s) in (list, tuple):
+            return [scalar_validator(v) for v in s if v]
+        else:
+            msg = "'s' must be of type [ string | list | tuple ]"
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+    f.__doc__ = scalar_validator.__doc__
+    return f
+
+
 def validate_any(s):
     return s
+validate_anylist = _listify_validator(validate_any)
 
 
 def validate_path_exists(s):
@@ -106,7 +134,7 @@ def validate_float(s):
         return float(s)
     except ValueError:
         raise ValueError('Could not convert "%s" to float' % s)
-
+validate_floatlist = _listify_validator(validate_float)
 
 def validate_float_or_None(s):
     """convert s to float, None or raise"""
@@ -300,25 +328,17 @@ def validate_color(s):
     raise ValueError('%s does not look like a color arg%s' % (s, msg))
 
 
-def validate_colorlist(s):
-    'return a list of colorspecs'
-    if isinstance(s, six.string_types):
-        return [validate_color(c.strip()) for c in s.split(',')]
-    elif type(s) in (list, tuple):
-        return [validate_color(c) for c in s]
-    else:
-        msg = "'s' must be of type [ string | list | tuple ]"
-        raise ValueError(msg)
+def deprecate_axes_colorcycle(value):
+    warnings.warn("axes.color_cycle is deprecated.  Use axes.prop_cycle "
+                  "instead. Will be removed in 2.1.0")
+    return validate_colorlist(value)
 
-def validate_stringlist(s):
-    'return a list'
-    if isinstance(s, six.string_types):
-        return [six.text_type(v.strip()) for v in s.split(',') if v.strip()]
-    elif type(s) in (list, tuple):
-        return [six.text_type(v) for v in s if v]
-    else:
-        msg = "'s' must be of type [ string | list | tuple ]"
-        raise ValueError(msg)
+
+validate_colorlist = _listify_validator(validate_color, allow_stringlist=True)
+validate_colorlist.__doc__ = 'return a list of colorspecs'
+
+validate_stringlist = _listify_validator(six.text_type)
+validate_stringlist.__doc__ = 'return a list'
 
 validate_orientation = ValidateInStrings(
     'orientation', ['landscape', 'portrait'])
@@ -343,6 +363,7 @@ def validate_fontsize(s):
         return float(s)
     except ValueError:
         raise ValueError('not a valid font size')
+validate_fontsizelist = _listify_validator(validate_fontsize)
 
 
 def validate_font_properties(s):
@@ -418,14 +439,17 @@ def validate_ps_distiller(s):
 validate_joinstyle = ValidateInStrings('joinstyle',
                                        ['miter', 'round', 'bevel'],
                                        ignorecase=True)
+validate_joinstylelist = _listify_validator(validate_joinstyle)
 
 validate_capstyle = ValidateInStrings('capstyle',
                                       ['butt', 'round', 'projecting'],
                                       ignorecase=True)
+validate_capstylelist = _listify_validator(validate_capstyle)
 
 validate_fillstyle = ValidateInStrings('markers.fillstyle',
                                        ['full', 'left', 'right', 'bottom',
                                         'top', 'none'])
+validate_fillstylelist = _listify_validator(validate_fillstyle)
 
 validate_negative_linestyle = ValidateInStrings('negative_linestyle',
                                                 ['solid', 'dashed'],
@@ -561,6 +585,168 @@ def __call__(self, s):
 
 validate_grid_axis = ValidateInStrings('axes.grid.axis', ['x', 'y', 'both'])
 
+
+def validate_hatch(s):
+    """
+    Validate a hatch pattern.
+    A hatch pattern string can have any sequence of the following
+    characters: ``\\ / | - + * . x o O``.
+
+    """
+    if not isinstance(s, six.text_type):
+        raise ValueError("Hatch pattern must be a string")
+    unique_chars = set(s)
+    unknown = (unique_chars -
+                set(['\\', '/', '|', '-', '+', '*', '.', 'x', 'o', 'O']))
+    if unknown:
+        raise ValueError("Unknown hatch symbol(s): %s" % list(unknown))
+    return s
+validate_hatchlist = _listify_validator(validate_hatch)
+
+
+_prop_validators = {
+        'color': validate_colorlist,
+        'linewidth': validate_floatlist,
+        'linestyle': validate_stringlist,
+        'facecolor': validate_colorlist,
+        'edgecolor': validate_colorlist,
+        'joinstyle': validate_joinstylelist,
+        'capstyle': validate_capstylelist,
+        'fillstyle': validate_fillstylelist,
+        'markerfacecolor': validate_colorlist,
+        'markersize': validate_floatlist,
+        'markeredgewidth': validate_floatlist,
+        'markeredgecolor': validate_colorlist,
+        'alpha': validate_floatlist,
+        'marker': validate_stringlist,
+        'hatch': validate_hatchlist,
+    }
+_prop_aliases = {
+        'c': 'color',
+        'lw': 'linewidth',
+        'ls': 'linestyle',
+        'fc': 'facecolor',
+        'ec': 'edgecolor',
+        'mfc': 'markerfacecolor',
+        'mec': 'markeredgecolor',
+        'mew': 'markeredgewidth',
+        'ms': 'markersize',
+    }
+
+
+def cycler(*args, **kwargs):
+    """
+    Creates a :class:`cycler.Cycler` object much like :func:`cycler.cycler`,
+    but includes input validation.
+
+    cyl(arg)
+    cyl(label, itr)
+    cyl(label1=itr1[, label2=itr2[, ...]])
+
+    Form 1 simply copies a given `Cycler` object.
+
+    Form 2 creates a `Cycler` from a label and an iterable.
+
+    Form 3 composes a `Cycler` as an inner product of the
+    pairs of keyword arguments. In other words, all of the
+    iterables are cycled simultaneously, as if through zip().
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    arg : Cycler
+        Copy constructor for Cycler.
+
+    label : name
+        The property key. Must be a valid `Artist` property.
+        For example, 'color' or 'linestyle'. Aliases are allowed,
+        such as 'c' for 'color' and 'lw' for 'linewidth'.
+
+    itr : iterable
+        Finite-length iterable of the property values. These values
+        are validated and will raise a ValueError if invalid.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    cycler : Cycler
+        New :class:`cycler.Cycler` for the given properties
+
+    """
+    if args and kwargs:
+        raise TypeError("cycler() can only accept positional OR keyword "
+                        "arguments -- not both.")
+    elif not args and not kwargs:
+        raise TypeError("cycler() must have positional OR keyword arguments")
+
+    if len(args) == 1:
+        if not isinstance(args[0], Cycler):
+            raise TypeError("If only one positional argument given, it must "
+                            " be a Cycler instance.")
+
+        c = args[0]
+        unknowns = c.keys - (set(_prop_validators.keys()) |
+                             set(_prop_aliases.keys()))
+        if unknowns:
+            # This is about as much validation I can do
+            raise TypeError("Unknown artist properties: %s" % unknowns)
+        else:
+            return Cycler(c)
+    elif len(args) == 2:
+        pairs = [(args[0], args[1])]
+    elif len(args) > 2:
+        raise TypeError("No more than 2 positional arguments allowed")
+    else:
+        pairs = six.iteritems(kwargs)
+
+    validated = []
+    for prop, vals in pairs:
+        norm_prop = _prop_aliases.get(prop, prop)
+        validator = _prop_validators.get(norm_prop, None)
+        if validator is None:
+            raise TypeError("Unknown artist property: %s" % prop)
+        vals = validator(vals)
+        # We will normalize the property names as well to reduce
+        # the amount of alias handling code elsewhere.
+        validated.append((norm_prop, vals))
+
+    return reduce(operator.add, (ccycler(k, v) for k, v in validated))
+
+
+def validate_cycler(s):
+    'return a Cycler object from a string repr or the object itself'
+    if isinstance(s, six.string_types):
+        try:
+            # TODO: We might want to rethink this...
+            # While I think I have it quite locked down,
+            # it is execution of arbitrary code without
+            # sanitation.
+            # Combine this with the possibility that rcparams
+            # might come from the internet (future plans), this
+            # could be downright dangerous.
+            # I locked it down by only having the 'cycler()' function
+            # available. Imports and defs should not
+            # be possible. However, it is entirely possible that
+            # a security hole could open up via attributes to the
+            # function (this is why I decided against allowing the
+            # Cycler class object just to reduce the number of
+            # degrees of freedom (but maybe it is safer to use?).
+            # One possible hole I can think of (in theory) is if
+            # someone managed to hack the cycler module. But, if
+            # someone does that, this wouldn't make anything
+            # worse because we have to import the module anyway.
+            s = eval(s, {'cycler': cycler})
+        except BaseException as e:
+            raise ValueError("'%s' is not a valid cycler construction: %s" %
+                             (s, e))
+    # Should make sure what comes from the above eval()
+    # is a Cycler object.
+    if isinstance(s, Cycler):
+        cycler_inst = s
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("object was not a string or Cycler instance: %s" % s)
+
+    return cycler_inst
+
+
 # a map from key -> value, converter
 defaultParams = {
     'backend':           ['Agg', validate_backend],  # agg is certainly
@@ -748,8 +934,13 @@ def __call__(self, s):
     'axes.formatter.useoffset': [True, validate_bool],
     'axes.unicode_minus': [True, validate_bool],
     'axes.color_cycle': [['b', 'g', 'r', 'c', 'm', 'y', 'k'],
-                         validate_colorlist],  # cycle of plot
-                                               # line colors
+                         deprecate_axes_colorcycle],  # cycle of plot
+                                                      # line colors
+    # This entry can be either a cycler object or a
+    # string repr of a cycler-object, which gets eval()'ed
+    # to create the object.
+    'axes.prop_cycle': [ccycler('color', 'bgrcmyk'),
+                        validate_cycler],
     'axes.xmargin': [0, ValidateInterval(0, 1,
                                          closedmin=True,
                                          closedmax=True)],  # margin added to xaxis
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/stackplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/stackplot.py
index 30f3156f111f..0a8c10d36a40 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/stackplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/stackplot.py
@@ -102,16 +102,23 @@ def stackplot(axes, x, *args, **kwargs):
         raise ValueError(errstr)
 
     # Color between x = 0 and the first array.
+    if 'color' in axes._get_lines._prop_keys:
+        color = six.next(axes._get_lines.prop_cycler)['color']
+    else:
+        color = None
     r.append(axes.fill_between(x, first_line, stack[0, :],
-                               facecolor=six.next(axes._get_lines.color_cycle),
+                               facecolor=color,
                                label= six.next(labels, None),
                                **kwargs))
 
     # Color between array i-1 and array i
     for i in xrange(len(y) - 1):
-        color = six.next(axes._get_lines.color_cycle)
+        if 'color' in axes._get_lines._prop_keys:
+            color = six.next(axes._get_lines.prop_cycler)['color']
+        else:
+            color = None
         r.append(axes.fill_between(x, stack[i, :], stack[i + 1, :],
-                                   facecolor= color,
+                                   facecolor=color,
                                    label= six.next(labels, None),
                                    **kwargs))
     return r
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/streamplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/streamplot.py
index 480f02d9552f..ea33cde6b61a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/streamplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/streamplot.py
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ def streamplot(axes, x, y, u, v, density=1, linewidth=None, color=None,
     if transform is None:
         transform = axes.transData
 
-    if color is None:
-        color = six.next(axes._get_lines.color_cycle)
+    if color is None and 'color' in axes._get_lines._prop_keys:
+        color = six.next(axes._get_lines.prop_cycler)['color']
 
     if linewidth is None:
         linewidth = matplotlib.rcParams['lines.linewidth']
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/color_cycle_basic.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/color_cycle_basic.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..38c9b11afd36
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/color_cycle_basic.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/fill_cycle_basic.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/fill_cycle_basic.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bc3263c15cb7
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/fill_cycle_basic.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/fill_cycle_ignore.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/fill_cycle_ignore.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..65aa664ebda7
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/fill_cycle_ignore.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/lineprop_cycle_basic.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/lineprop_cycle_basic.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..10fef6387a21
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/lineprop_cycle_basic.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/marker_cycle.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/marker_cycle.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f807aaed3e84
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_cycles/marker_cycle.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_cycles.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_cycles.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..606af7f9bc4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_cycles.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+from matplotlib.testing.decorators import image_comparison
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+import numpy as np
+
+from cycler import cycler
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['color_cycle_basic'], remove_text=True,
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_colorcycle_basic():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
+    ax.set_prop_cycle(cycler('color', ['r', 'g', 'y']))
+    xs = np.arange(10)
+    ys = 0.25 * xs + 2
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='red', lw=4)
+    ys = 0.45 * xs + 3
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='green', lw=4)
+    ys = 0.65 * xs + 4
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='yellow', lw=4)
+    ys = 0.85 * xs + 5
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='red2', lw=4)
+    ax.legend(loc='upper left')
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['marker_cycle'], remove_text=True,
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_marker_cycle():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
+    ax.set_prop_cycle(cycler('color', ['r', 'g', 'y']) +
+                      cycler('marker', ['.', '*', 'x']))
+    xs = np.arange(10)
+    ys = 0.25 * xs + 2
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='red dot', lw=4, ms=16)
+    ys = 0.45 * xs + 3
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='green star', lw=4, ms=16)
+    ys = 0.65 * xs + 4
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='yellow x', lw=4, ms=16)
+    ys = 0.85 * xs + 5
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='red2 dot', lw=4, ms=16)
+    ax.legend(loc='upper left')
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['lineprop_cycle_basic'], remove_text=True,
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_linestylecycle_basic():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
+    ax.set_prop_cycle(cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--', ':']))
+    xs = np.arange(10)
+    ys = 0.25 * xs + 2
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='solid', lw=4)
+    ys = 0.45 * xs + 3
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='dashed', lw=4)
+    ys = 0.65 * xs + 4
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='dotted', lw=4)
+    ys = 0.85 * xs + 5
+    ax.plot(xs, ys, label='solid2', lw=4)
+    ax.legend(loc='upper left')
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['fill_cycle_basic'], remove_text=True,
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_fillcycle_basic():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
+    ax.set_prop_cycle(cycler('color',  ['r', 'g', 'y']) +
+                      cycler('hatch', ['xx', 'O', '|-']) +
+                      cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--', ':']))
+    xs = np.arange(10)
+    ys = 0.25 * xs**.5 + 2
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, label='red, xx', linewidth=3)
+    ys = 0.45 * xs**.5 + 3
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, label='green, circle', linewidth=3)
+    ys = 0.65 * xs**.5 + 4
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, label='yellow, cross', linewidth=3)
+    ys = 0.85 * xs**.5 + 5
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, label='red2, xx', linewidth=3)
+    ax.legend(loc='upper left')
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['fill_cycle_ignore'], remove_text=True,
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_fillcycle_ignore():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
+    ax.set_prop_cycle(cycler('color',  ['r', 'g', 'y']) +
+                      cycler('hatch', ['xx', 'O', '|-']) +
+                      cycler('marker', ['.', '*', 'D']))
+    xs = np.arange(10)
+    ys = 0.25 * xs**.5 + 2
+    # Should not advance the cycler, even though there is an
+    # unspecified property in the cycler "marker".
+    # "marker" is not a Polygon property, and should be ignored.
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, 'r', hatch='xx', label='red, xx')
+    ys = 0.45 * xs**.5 + 3
+    # Allow the cycler to advance, but specify some properties
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, hatch='O', label='red, circle')
+    ys = 0.65 * xs**.5 + 4
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, label='green, circle')
+    ys = 0.85 * xs**.5 + 5
+    ax.fill(xs, ys, label='yellow, cross')
+    ax.legend(loc='upper left')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    import nose
+    nose.runmodule(argv=['-s', '--with-doctest'], exit=False)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
index c371f22bf015..e88e13b79914 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 import sys
 import warnings
 
+from cycler import cycler, Cycler
+
 import matplotlib as mpl
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 from matplotlib.tests import assert_str_equal
@@ -22,7 +24,9 @@
                                 validate_stringlist,
                                 validate_bool,
                                 validate_nseq_int,
-                                validate_nseq_float)
+                                validate_nseq_float,
+                                validate_cycler,
+                                validate_hatch)
 
 
 mpl.rc('text', usetex=False)
@@ -238,13 +242,14 @@ def test_Issue_1713():
         del os.environ['LANG']
     assert rc.get('timezone') == 'UTC'
 
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    nose.runmodule(argv=['-s', '--with-doctest'], exit=False)
-
 
 def _validation_test_helper(validator, arg, target):
     res = validator(arg)
-    assert_equal(res, target)
+    if not isinstance(target, Cycler):
+        assert_equal(res, target)
+    else:
+        # Cyclers can't simply be asserted equal. They don't implement __eq__
+        assert_equal(list(res), list(target))
 
 
 def _validation_fail_helper(validator, arg, exception_type):
@@ -293,8 +298,51 @@ def test_validators():
                   for _ in ('aardvark', ('a', 1),
                             (1, 2, 3)
                             ))
-        }
-
+        },
+        {'validator': validate_cycler,
+         'success': (('cycler("color", "rgb")',
+                      cycler("color", 'rgb')),
+                     (cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--']),
+                      cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--'])),
+                     ("""(cycler("color", ["r", "g", "b"]) +
+                          cycler("mew", [2, 3, 5]))""",
+                      (cycler("color", 'rgb') +
+                          cycler("markeredgewidth", [2, 3, 5]))),
+                     ("cycler(c='rgb', lw=[1, 2, 3])",
+                      cycler('color', 'rgb') + cycler('linewidth', [1, 2, 3])),
+                     ("cycler('c', 'rgb') * cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--'])",
+                      (cycler('color', 'rgb') *
+                          cycler('linestyle', ['-', '--']))),
+                    ),
+         # This is *so* incredibly important: validate_cycler() eval's
+         # an arbitrary string! I think I have it locked down enough,
+         # and that is what this is testing.
+         # TODO: Note that these tests are actually insufficient, as it may
+         # be that they raised errors, but still did an action prior to
+         # raising the exception. We should devise some additional tests
+         # for that...
+         'fail': ((4, ValueError),  # Gotta be a string or Cycler object
+                  ('cycler("bleh, [])', ValueError),  # syntax error
+                  ('Cycler("linewidth", [1, 2, 3])',
+                      ValueError),  # only 'cycler()' function is allowed
+                  ('1 + 2', ValueError),  # doesn't produce a Cycler object
+                  ('os.system("echo Gotcha")', ValueError),  # os not available
+                  ('import os', ValueError),  # should not be able to import
+                  ('def badjuju(a): return a; badjuju(cycler("color", "rgb"))',
+                      ValueError),  # Should not be able to define anything
+                                    # even if it does return a cycler
+                  ('cycler("waka", [1, 2, 3])', ValueError),  # not a property
+                  ('cycler(c=[1, 2, 3])', ValueError),  # invalid values
+                  ("cycler(lw=['a', 'b', 'c'])", ValueError),  # invalid values
+                 )
+        },
+        {'validator': validate_hatch,
+         'success': (('--|', '--|'), ('\\oO', '\\oO'),
+                     ('/+*/.x', '/+*/.x'), ('', '')),
+         'fail': (('--_', ValueError),
+                  (8, ValueError),
+                  ('X', ValueError)),
+        },
     )
 
     for validator_dict in validation_tests:
@@ -331,3 +379,7 @@ def test_rcparams_reset_after_fail():
                 pass
 
         assert mpl.rcParams['text.usetex'] is False
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    nose.runmodule(argv=['-s', '--with-doctest'], exit=False)
diff --git a/matplotlibrc.template b/matplotlibrc.template
index 968c32802005..af25292da301 100644
--- a/matplotlibrc.template
+++ b/matplotlibrc.template
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ backend      : %(backend)s
 # information on line properties.
 #lines.linewidth   : 1.0     # line width in points
 #lines.linestyle   : -       # solid line
-#lines.color       : blue    # has no affect on plot(); see axes.color_cycle
+#lines.color       : blue    # has no affect on plot(); see axes.prop_cycle
 #lines.marker      : None    # the default marker
 #lines.markeredgewidth  : 0.5     # the line width around the marker symbol
 #lines.markersize  : 6            # markersize, in points
@@ -267,7 +267,8 @@ backend      : %(backend)s
 #axes.unicode_minus  : True    # use unicode for the minus symbol
                                # rather than hyphen.  See
                                # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus_and_minus_signs#Character_codes
-#axes.color_cycle    : b, g, r, c, m, y, k  # color cycle for plot lines
+#axes.prop_cycle    : cycler('color', 'bgrcmyk')
+                                            # color cycle for plot lines
                                             # as list of string colorspecs:
                                             # single letter, long name, or
                                             # web-style hex
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 912d8e2d6490..26cd3438549e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
     setupext.Numpy(),
     setupext.Dateutil(),
     setupext.Pytz(),
+    setupext.Cycler(),
     setupext.Tornado(),
     setupext.Pyparsing(),
     setupext.LibAgg(),
diff --git a/setupext.py b/setupext.py
index 29e549e4d833..2f4c39780888 100755
--- a/setupext.py
+++ b/setupext.py
@@ -1162,6 +1162,24 @@ def get_install_requires(self):
         return ['pytz']
 
 
+class Cycler(SetupPackage):
+    name = "cycler"
+
+    def check(self):
+        try:
+            import cycler
+        except ImportError:
+            return (
+                "cycler was not found. "
+                "pip will attempt to install it "
+                "after matplotlib.")
+
+        return "using cycler version %s" % cycler.__version__
+
+    def get_install_requires(self):
+        return ['cycler']
+
+
 class Dateutil(SetupPackage):
     name = "dateutil"