diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 6b40628..e65ef47 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -5,3 +5,8 @@ Version log
 -----
 
 - Initial version
+
+0.1.1
+-----
+
+- Fixed a bug where putting a ``:`` or escaped ``>`` or ``<`` just before or after some color formatted text would raise a ``ColorSyntaxError``
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index e1ef7c1..414fa58 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-colorise v0.1.0
+colorise v0.1.1
 ================
 
 .. image:: https://travis-ci.org/MisanthropicBit/colorise.svg?branch=master
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ of returning a string:
     >>> colorise.highlight("Highlight this text!", fg='blue', indices=[4, 17, 3, 5, 10])
 
 If you have a ``<`` or ``>`` in your string, you can escape it with a backslash ``\``. The backslash
-is automatically removed. Colons ``:`` are ignored if they appear in text.
+is automatically removed. Colons, escaped or not, ``:`` are ignored if they appear as text.
 
 .. code::
 
diff --git a/colorise/ColorFormatParser.py b/colorise/ColorFormatParser.py
index 4fa6a82..b705a2f 100644
--- a/colorise/ColorFormatParser.py
+++ b/colorise/ColorFormatParser.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 """ColorFormatParser class which parses color formatted strings."""
 
-__date__ = '2014-05-08'  # YYYY-MM-DD
+__date__ = '2014-05-24'  # YYYY-MM-DD
 
 import re
 import itertools
@@ -37,10 +37,11 @@ def tokenize(self, string):
         pos, buf, lm = -1, '', -1
         it = colorise.compat.ifilter(None, self._pattern.finditer(string))
         t = colorise.compat.next(it)
+        escapeflag = False
 
         # Check if we need to yield any starting text
         if t.start() > 0:
-            yield string[:t.start()]
+            yield string[:t.start()], False
             pos = t.start()
 
         it = itertools.chain([t], it)
@@ -52,26 +53,29 @@ def tokenize(self, string):
 
             if escaped:
                 buf += string[pos:m.end(2)-1] + s
+                escapeflag = True
             else:
                 buf += string[pos:m.start(3)]
 
                 if buf:
-                    yield buf
+                    yield buf, escapeflag
                     buf = ''
+                    escapeflag = False
 
                 if lm == start:
-                    yield ''
+                    yield '', False
 
-                yield s
+                yield s, False
                 lm = m.end()
 
             pos = m.end()
 
         if buf:
-            yield buf
+            yield buf, escapeflag
+            escapeflag = False
 
         if pos < len(string):
-            yield string[pos:]
+            yield string[pos:], False
 
     def parse(self, format_string):
         """Parse color syntax from a formatted string."""
@@ -79,27 +83,27 @@ def parse(self, format_string):
         colorstack = [(None, None)]
         itokens = self.tokenize(format_string)
 
-        for token in itokens:
-            if token == self._START_TOKEN:
+        for token, escaped in itokens:
+            if token == self._START_TOKEN and not escaped:
                 if txt:
                     yield txt, colorstack[-1]
                     txt = ''
 
                 state += 1
-                colors = self.extract_syntax(colorise.compat.next(itokens))
+                colors = self.extract_syntax(colorise.compat.next(itokens)[0])
                 colorstack.append(tuple(b or a
                                         for a, b in zip(colorstack[-1],
                                                         colors)))
-            elif token == self._FMT_TOKEN:
-                if state == 0:
-                    raise ColorSyntaxError("Missing '{0}'"
-                                           .format(self._START_TOKEN))
+            elif token == self._FMT_TOKEN and not escaped:
+                # if state == 0:
+                #     raise ColorSyntaxError("Missing '{0}'"
+                #                            .format(self._START_TOKEN))
 
                 if state % 2 != 0:
                     state += 1
                 else:
                     txt += token
-            elif token == self._STOP_TOKEN:
+            elif token == self._STOP_TOKEN and not escaped:
                 if state < 2:
                     raise ColorSyntaxError("Missing '{0}' or '{1}'"
                                            .format(self._STOP_TOKEN,
diff --git a/colorise/__init__.py b/colorise/__init__.py
index 8644317..fe6859d 100644
--- a/colorise/__init__.py
+++ b/colorise/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
-"""colorise v0.1.0.
+"""colorise v0.1.1.
 
 A module for printing colored text to the console. Has support for
 custom color format syntax and includes some useful utility functions.
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 
 __author__ = 'Alexander Bock'
-__version__ = '0.1.0'
+__version__ = '0.1.1'
 __license__ = 'MIT'
-__date__ = '2014-05-08'  # YYYY-MM-DD
+__date__ = '2014-05-21'  # YYYY-MM-DD
 __all__ = ['set_color', 'cprint', 'fprint', 'formatcolor', 'formatbyindex',
            'highlight']