diff --git a/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb b/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb
index 3998c4411..42f44660c 100644
--- a/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ module AvatarsHelper
       elsif user.to_s =~ %r{<(.+?)>}
         email = $1
       end
+      if options[:default] == 'blank'
+        options[:style] ||= +''
+        options[:style] << "background-image:url(\"data:image/svg+xml,#{url_encode(render(partial: 'common/initials.svg', locals: { initials: user.initials }))}\");"
+        options[:class] ||= +''
+        options[:class] << " avatar-color-#{user.id % 8}"
+      end
       if email.present?
         gravatar(email.to_s.downcase, options) rescue nil
       elsif user.is_a?(AnonymousUser)
diff --git a/app/models/anonymous_user.rb b/app/models/anonymous_user.rb
index eddcf814c..aa16431cc 100644
--- a/app/models/anonymous_user.rb
+++ b/app/models/anonymous_user.rb
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ class AnonymousUser < User
   def logged?; false end
   def admin; false end
   def name(*args); I18n.t(:label_user_anonymous) end
+  def initials; 'AN' end
   def mail=(*args); nil end
   def mail; nil end
   def time_zone; nil end
diff --git a/app/models/principal.rb b/app/models/principal.rb
index b38418816..7d426ad02 100644
--- a/app/models/principal.rb
+++ b/app/models/principal.rb
@@ -128,6 +128,14 @@ class Principal < ActiveRecord::Base
     to_s
   end
 
+  def initials
+    if firstname.blank? && lastname.blank?
+      'NN'
+    else
+      "#{firstname.to_s.strip.first}#{lastname.to_s.strip.first}".upcase.strip
+    end
+  end
+
   def mail=(*args)
     nil
   end
diff --git a/app/views/common/_initials.svg.erb b/app/views/common/_initials.svg.erb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e58cf791d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/common/_initials.svg.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<svg viewBox="0 0 100 100" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/stylesheets/avatars.css" type="text/css"/>
+  <defs>
+    <style>
+      text {
+        font-family: sans-serif;
+      }
+    </style>
+  </defs>
+  <%= content_tag :text, initials, x: 50, y: 50,
+        'font-size': 50, fill: 'white',
+        'dy': '.36em',
+        'text-anchor': 'middle' %>
+</svg>
diff --git a/public/stylesheets/application.css b/public/stylesheets/application.css
index f837a710e..3439d842e 100644
--- a/public/stylesheets/application.css
+++ b/public/stylesheets/application.css
@@ -1874,3 +1874,35 @@ th[role=columnheader]:not(.no-sort):hover:after {
 	display: inline;
 	opacity: 1;
 }
+
+img.avatar-color-0 {
+  background-color: #880000;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-1 {
+  background-color: #ff0000;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-2 {
+  background-color: #00ff00;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-3 {
+  background-color: #008800;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-4 {
+  background-color: #0000ff;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-5 {
+  background-color: #000088;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-6 {
+  background-color: #ff8800;
+}
+
+img.avatar-color-7 {
+  background-color: #ff0088;
+}