diff --git a/git-prompt-help.sh b/git-prompt-help.sh
index b9c699b..ca6c5de 100644
--- a/git-prompt-help.sh
+++ b/git-prompt-help.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # being displayed.
 
 git_prompt_help() {
-  cat <<EOF 1>&2 
+ cat <<EOF | sed 's/\\\[\\033//g' | sed 's/\\\]//g'
 The git prompt format is [<BRANCH><TRACKING>|<LOCALSTATUS>]
 
 BRANCH is a branch name, such as "master" or "stage", a tag name, or commit
@@ -12,44 +12,46 @@ hash prefixed with ':'.
 TRACKING indicates how the local branch differs from the
 remote branch.  It can be empty, or one of:
 
-    ↑N   - ahead of remote by N commits
-    ↓N   - behind remote by N commits
-    ↓M↑N - branches diverged, other by M commits, yours by N commits
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}${ResetColor}${GIT_PROMPT_REMOTE}↑·N${ResetColor}   - ahead of remote by N commits
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}${ResetColor}${GIT_PROMPT_REMOTE}↓·N${ResetColor}   - behind remote by N commits
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}${ResetColor}${GIT_PROMPT_REMOTE}↓·M↑·N${ResetColor} - branches diverged, other by M commits, yours by N commits
 
 LOCALSTATUS is one of the following:
 
-    ✔   - repository clean
-    ●N  - N staged files
-    ✖N  - N unmerged files
-    ✚N  - N changed but *unstaged* files
-    …N  - N untracked files
-    ⚑N  - N stash entries
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_CLEAN}${ResetColor}   - repository clean
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_STAGED}N${ResetColor}  - N staged files
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_CONFLICTS}N${ResetColor}  - N conflicted files
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_CHANGED}N${ResetColor}  - N changed but *unstaged* files
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_UNTRACKED}N${ResetColor}  - N untracked files
+    ${GIT_PROMPT_STASHED}N${ResetColor}  - N stash entries
 
 See "git_prompt_examples" for examples.
 EOF
 }
+
 help_git_prompt() { git_prompt_help ; }
 
 git_prompt_examples() {
-  cat <<EOF 1>&2
+  cat <<EOF | sed 's/\\\[\\033//g' | sed 's/\\\]//g'
 These are examples of the git prompt:
 
-  (master↑3|✚1)   - on branch "master", ahead of remote by 3 commits, 1
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}master${ResetColor}${GIT_PROMPT_REMOTE}↑·3${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_CHANGED}1${ResetColor}]  - on branch "master", ahead of remote by 3 commits, 1
                     file changed but not staged
 
-  (status|●2)     - on branch "status", 2 files staged
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}status${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_STAGED}2${ResetColor}]     - on branch "status", 2 files staged
 
-  (master|✚7…)    - on branch "master", 7 files changed, some files untracked
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}master${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_CHANGED}7${GIT_PROMPT_UNTRACKED}${ResetColor}]    - on branch "master", 7 files changed, some files untracked
 
-  (master|✖2✚3)   - on branch "master", 2 conflicts, 3 files changed
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}master${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_CONFLICTS}2${GIT_PROMPT_CHANGED}3${ResetColor}]   - on branch "master", 2 conflicts, 3 files changed
 
-  (master|⚑2)     - on branch "master", 2 stash entries
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}master${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_STASHED}2${ResetColor}]     - on branch "master", 2 stash entries
 
-  (experimental↓2↑3|✔)  -  on branch "experimental"; your branch has diverged
-                           by 3 commits, remote by 2 commits; the repository is
-                           otherwise clean
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}experimental${ResetColor}${GIT_PROMPT_REMOTE}↓·2↑·3${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_CLEAN}${ResetColor}]
+                  -  on branch "experimental"; your branch has diverged
+                     by 3 commits, remote by 2 commits; the repository is
+                     otherwise clean
 
-  (:70c2952|✔)    - not on any branch; parent commit has hash "70c2952"; the
+  [${GIT_PROMPT_BRANCH}:70c2952${ResetColor}|${GIT_PROMPT_CLEAN}${ResetColor}]    - not on any branch; parent commit has hash "70c2952"; the
                     repository is otherwise clean
 EOF
 }
diff --git a/gitprompt.sh b/gitprompt.sh
index fc21851..f4ca70e 100755
--- a/gitprompt.sh
+++ b/gitprompt.sh
@@ -253,3 +253,6 @@ else
   PROMPT_COMMAND=${PROMPT_COMMAND%\;}; # remove trailing semi-colon
   PROMPT_COMMAND="$PROMPT_COMMAND;setGitPrompt"
 fi
+
+git_prompt_dir
+source $__GIT_PROMPT_DIR/git-prompt-help.sh
diff --git a/gitstatus.sh b/gitstatus.sh
index 55aebd4..1feeb8a 100755
--- a/gitstatus.sh
+++ b/gitstatus.sh
@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@
 # Alan K. Stebbens <aks@stebbens.org> [http://github.com/aks]
 
 # change those symbols to whatever you prefer
-declare -a symbols
-symbols['ahead']='↑·'
-symbols['behind']='↓·'
-symbols['prehash']=':'
+symbols_ahead='↑·'
+symbols_behind='↓·'
+symbols_prehash=':'
 
 gitsym=`git symbolic-ref HEAD`
 
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ if [[ -z "$branch" ]]; then
   if [[ -n "$tag" ]]; then
     branch="$tag"
   else
-    branch="${symbols['prehash']}`git rev-parse --short HEAD`"
+    branch="${symbols_prehash}`git rev-parse --short HEAD`"
   fi
 else
   remote_name=`git config branch.${branch}.remote`
@@ -73,10 +72,10 @@ else
   num_ahead=`count_lines "^>"`
   num_behind=$(( num_revs - num_ahead ))
   if (( num_behind > 0 )) ; then
-    remote="${remote}${symbols['behind']}${num_behind}"
+    remote="${remote}${symbols_behind}${num_behind}"
   fi
   if (( num_ahead > 0 )) ; then
-    remote="${remote}${symbols['ahead']}${num_ahead}"
+    remote="${remote}${symbols_ahead}${num_ahead}"
   fi
 fi
 if [[ -z "$remote" ]] ; then