diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index f99be4b9c..a566d4ea1 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ redis-check-dump.o: redis-check-dump.c lzf.h
 redis-cli.o: redis-cli.c fmacros.h version.h ../deps/hiredis/hiredis.h \
   sds.h zmalloc.h ../deps/linenoise/linenoise.h help.h
 redis.o: redis.c redis.h fmacros.h config.h ae.h sds.h dict.h adlist.h \
-  zmalloc.h anet.h zipmap.h ziplist.h intset.h version.h
+  zmalloc.h anet.h zipmap.h ziplist.h intset.h version.h asciilogo.h
 release.o: release.c release.h
 replication.o: replication.c redis.h fmacros.h config.h ae.h sds.h dict.h \
   adlist.h zmalloc.h anet.h zipmap.h ziplist.h intset.h version.h
diff --git a/src/asciilogo.h b/src/asciilogo.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..878a10700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/asciilogo.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+char *ascii_logo =
+"                _._                                                  \n"
+"           _.-``__ ''-._                                             \n"
+"      _.-``    `.  `_.  ''-._           Redis %s (%s/%d) %s bit\n"
+"  .-`` .-```.  ```\\/    _.,_ ''-._                                   \n"
+" (    '      ,       .-`  | `,    )     Running in %s mode\n"
+" |`-._`-...-` __...-.``-._|'` _.-'|     Port: %d\n"
+" |    `-._   `._    /     _.-'    |     PID: %ld\n"
+"  `-._    `-._  `-./  _.-'    _.-'                                   \n"
+" |`-._`-._    `-.__.-'    _.-'_.-'|                                  \n"
+" |    `-._`-._        _.-'_.-'    |           http://redis.io        \n"
+"  `-._    `-._`-.__.-'_.-'    _.-'                                   \n"
+" |`-._`-._    `-.__.-'    _.-'_.-'|                                  \n"
+" |    `-._`-._        _.-'_.-'    |                                  \n"
+"  `-._    `-._`-.__.-'_.-'    _.-'                                   \n"
+"      `-._    `-.__.-'    _.-'                                       \n"
+"          `-._        _.-'                                           \n"
+"              `-.__.-'                                               \n\n";
diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index 22c653543..9112adb52 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -205,14 +205,20 @@ void redisLogRaw(int level, const char *msg) {
     time_t now = time(NULL);
     FILE *fp;
     char buf[64];
+    int rawmode = (level & REDIS_LOG_RAW);
 
+    level &= 0xff; /* clear flags */
     if (level < server.verbosity) return;
 
     fp = (server.logfile == NULL) ? stdout : fopen(server.logfile,"a");
     if (!fp) return;
 
-    strftime(buf,sizeof(buf),"%d %b %H:%M:%S",localtime(&now));
-    fprintf(fp,"[%d] %s %c %s\n",(int)getpid(),buf,c[level],msg);
+    if (rawmode) {
+        fprintf(fp,"%s",msg);
+    } else {
+        strftime(buf,sizeof(buf),"%d %b %H:%M:%S",localtime(&now));
+        fprintf(fp,"[%d] %s %c %s\n",(int)getpid(),buf,c[level],msg);
+    }
     fflush(fp);
 
     if (server.logfile) fclose(fp);
@@ -227,7 +233,7 @@ void redisLog(int level, const char *fmt, ...) {
     va_list ap;
     char msg[REDIS_MAX_LOGMSG_LEN];
 
-    if (level < server.verbosity) return;
+    if ((level&0xff) < server.verbosity) return;
 
     va_start(ap, fmt);
     vsnprintf(msg, sizeof(msg), fmt, ap);
@@ -1715,6 +1721,23 @@ void usage() {
     exit(1);
 }
 
+void redisAsciiArt(void) {
+#include "asciilogo.h"
+    char *buf = zmalloc(1024*16);
+
+    snprintf(buf,1024*16,ascii_logo,
+        REDIS_VERSION,
+        redisGitSHA1(),
+        strtol(redisGitDirty(),NULL,10) > 0,
+        (sizeof(long) == 8) ? "64" : "32",
+        server.cluster_enabled ? "cluster" : "stand alone",
+        server.port,
+        (long) getpid()
+    );
+    redisLogRaw(REDIS_NOTICE|REDIS_LOG_RAW,buf);
+    zfree(buf);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     long long start;
 
@@ -1733,6 +1756,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     if (server.daemonize) daemonize();
     initServer();
     if (server.daemonize) createPidFile();
+    redisAsciiArt();
     redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"Server started, Redis version " REDIS_VERSION);
 #ifdef __linux__
     linuxOvercommitMemoryWarning();
diff --git a/src/redis.h b/src/redis.h
index 26f334512..7e3a8c8f0 100644
--- a/src/redis.h
+++ b/src/redis.h
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@
 #define REDIS_VERBOSE 1
 #define REDIS_NOTICE 2
 #define REDIS_WARNING 3
+#define REDIS_LOG_RAW (1<<10) /* Modifier to log without timestamp */
 
 /* Anti-warning macro... */
 #define REDIS_NOTUSED(V) ((void) V)