diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/doc.go b/src/pkg/text/template/doc.go
index c9121f74d3..b952789d1c 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/doc.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/doc.go
@@ -301,8 +301,32 @@ Predefined global functions are named as follows.
 		Returns the escaped value of the textual representation of
 		its arguments in a form suitable for embedding in a URL query.
 
-The boolean functions take any zero value to be false and a non-zero value to
-be true.
+The boolean functions take any zero value to be false and a non-zero
+value to be true.
+
+There is also a set of binary comparison operators defined as
+functions:
+
+	eq
+		Returns the boolean truth of arg1 == arg2
+	ne
+		Returns the boolean truth of arg1 != arg2
+	lt
+		Returns the boolean truth of arg1 < arg2
+	le
+		Returns the boolean truth of arg1 <= arg2
+	gt
+		Returns the boolean truth of arg1 > arg2
+	ge
+		Returns the boolean truth of arg1 >= arg2
+
+These functions work on basic types only (or named basic types,
+such as "type Celsius float32"). They implement the Go rules for
+comparison of values, except that size and exact type are ignored,
+so any integer value may be compared with any other integer value,
+any unsigned integer value may be compared with any other unsigned
+integer value, and so on. However, as usual, one may not compare
+an int with a float32 and so on.
 
 Associated templates
 
diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go b/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
index 3d110af9cc..341c502173 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/exec_test.go
@@ -863,3 +863,110 @@ func TestMessageForExecuteEmpty(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
+
+type cmpTest struct {
+	expr  string
+	truth string
+	ok    bool
+}
+
+var cmpTests = []cmpTest{
+	{"eq true true", "true", true},
+	{"eq true false", "false", true},
+	{"eq 1+2i 1+2i", "true", true},
+	{"eq 1+2i 1+3i", "false", true},
+	{"eq 1.5 1.5", "true", true},
+	{"eq 1.5 2.5", "false", true},
+	{"eq 1 1", "true", true},
+	{"eq 1 2", "false", true},
+	{"eq `xy` `xy`", "true", true},
+	{"eq `xy` `xyz`", "false", true},
+	{"eq .Xuint .Xuint", "true", true},
+	{"eq .Xuint .Yuint", "false", true},
+	{"ne true true", "false", true},
+	{"ne true false", "true", true},
+	{"ne 1+2i 1+2i", "false", true},
+	{"ne 1+2i 1+3i", "true", true},
+	{"ne 1.5 1.5", "false", true},
+	{"ne 1.5 2.5", "true", true},
+	{"ne 1 1", "false", true},
+	{"ne 1 2", "true", true},
+	{"ne `xy` `xy`", "false", true},
+	{"ne `xy` `xyz`", "true", true},
+	{"ne .Xuint .Xuint", "false", true},
+	{"ne .Xuint .Yuint", "true", true},
+	{"lt 1.5 1.5", "false", true},
+	{"lt 1.5 2.5", "true", true},
+	{"lt 1 1", "false", true},
+	{"lt 1 2", "true", true},
+	{"lt `xy` `xy`", "false", true},
+	{"lt `xy` `xyz`", "true", true},
+	{"lt .Xuint .Xuint", "false", true},
+	{"lt .Xuint .Yuint", "true", true},
+	{"le 1.5 1.5", "true", true},
+	{"le 1.5 2.5", "true", true},
+	{"le 2.5 1.5", "false", true},
+	{"le 1 1", "true", true},
+	{"le 1 2", "true", true},
+	{"le 2 1", "false", true},
+	{"le `xy` `xy`", "true", true},
+	{"le `xy` `xyz`", "true", true},
+	{"le `xyz` `xy`", "false", true},
+	{"le .Xuint .Xuint", "true", true},
+	{"le .Xuint .Yuint", "true", true},
+	{"le .Yuint .Xuint", "false", true},
+	{"gt 1.5 1.5", "false", true},
+	{"gt 1.5 2.5", "false", true},
+	{"gt 1 1", "false", true},
+	{"gt 2 1", "true", true},
+	{"gt 1 2", "false", true},
+	{"gt `xy` `xy`", "false", true},
+	{"gt `xy` `xyz`", "false", true},
+	{"gt .Xuint .Xuint", "false", true},
+	{"gt .Xuint .Yuint", "false", true},
+	{"gt .Yuint .Xuint", "true", true},
+	{"ge 1.5 1.5", "true", true},
+	{"ge 1.5 2.5", "false", true},
+	{"ge 2.5 1.5", "true", true},
+	{"ge 1 1", "true", true},
+	{"ge 1 2", "false", true},
+	{"ge 2 1", "true", true},
+	{"ge `xy` `xy`", "true", true},
+	{"ge `xy` `xyz`", "false", true},
+	{"ge `xyz` `xy`", "true", true},
+	{"ge .Xuint .Xuint", "true", true},
+	{"ge .Xuint .Yuint", "false", true},
+	{"ge .Yuint .Xuint", "true", true},
+	// Errors
+	{"eq 3 4 5", "", false},     // Too many arguments.
+	{"eq `xy` 1", "", false},    // Different types.
+	{"lt true true", "", false}, // Unordered types.
+	{"lt 1+0i 1+0i", "", false}, // Unordered types.
+}
+
+func TestComparison(t *testing.T) {
+	b := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	var cmpStruct = struct {
+		Xuint, Yuint uint
+	}{3, 4}
+	for _, test := range cmpTests {
+		text := fmt.Sprintf("{{if %s}}true{{else}}false{{end}}", test.expr)
+		tmpl, err := New("empty").Parse(text)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		b.Reset()
+		err = tmpl.Execute(b, &cmpStruct)
+		if test.ok && err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s errored incorrectly: %s", test.expr, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if !test.ok && err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s did not error")
+			continue
+		}
+		if b.String() != test.truth {
+			t.Errorf("%s: want %s; got %s", test.expr, test.truth, b.String())
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/pkg/text/template/funcs.go b/src/pkg/text/template/funcs.go
index 643a728cb7..9402170bd0 100644
--- a/src/pkg/text/template/funcs.go
+++ b/src/pkg/text/template/funcs.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package template
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/url"
@@ -35,6 +36,14 @@ var builtins = FuncMap{
 	"printf":   fmt.Sprintf,
 	"println":  fmt.Sprintln,
 	"urlquery": URLQueryEscaper,
+
+	// Comparisons
+	"eq": eq, // ==
+	"ge": ge, // >=
+	"gt": gt, // >
+	"le": le, // <=
+	"lt": lt, // <
+	"ne": ne, // !=
 }
 
 var builtinFuncs = createValueFuncs(builtins)
@@ -248,6 +257,151 @@ func not(arg interface{}) (truth bool) {
 	return !truth
 }
 
+// Comparison.
+
+// TODO: Perhaps allow comparison between signed and unsigned integers.
+
+var (
+	errBadComparisonType = errors.New("invalid type for comparison")
+	errBadComparison     = errors.New("incompatible types for comparison")
+)
+
+type kind int
+
+const (
+	invalidKind kind = iota
+	boolKind
+	complexKind
+	intKind
+	floatKind
+	integerKind
+	stringKind
+	uintKind
+)
+
+func basicKind(v reflect.Value) (kind, error) {
+	switch v.Kind() {
+	case reflect.Bool:
+		return boolKind, nil
+	case reflect.Int, reflect.Int8, reflect.Int16, reflect.Int32, reflect.Int64:
+		return intKind, nil
+	case reflect.Uint, reflect.Uint8, reflect.Uint16, reflect.Uint32, reflect.Uint64, reflect.Uintptr:
+		return uintKind, nil
+	case reflect.Float32, reflect.Float64:
+		return floatKind, nil
+	case reflect.Complex64, reflect.Complex128:
+		return complexKind, nil
+	case reflect.String:
+		return stringKind, nil
+	}
+	return invalidKind, errBadComparisonType
+}
+
+// eq evaluates the comparison a == b.
+func eq(arg1, arg2 interface{}) (bool, error) {
+	v1 := reflect.ValueOf(arg1)
+	k1, err := basicKind(v1)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	v2 := reflect.ValueOf(arg2)
+	k2, err := basicKind(v2)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if k1 != k2 {
+		return false, errBadComparison
+	}
+	truth := false
+	switch k1 {
+	case boolKind:
+		truth = v1.Bool() == v2.Bool()
+	case complexKind:
+		truth = v1.Complex() == v2.Complex()
+	case floatKind:
+		truth = v1.Float() == v2.Float()
+	case intKind:
+		truth = v1.Int() == v2.Int()
+	case stringKind:
+		truth = v1.String() == v2.String()
+	case uintKind:
+		truth = v1.Uint() == v2.Uint()
+	default:
+		panic("invalid kind")
+	}
+	return truth, nil
+}
+
+// ne evaluates the comparison a != b.
+func ne(arg1, arg2 interface{}) (bool, error) {
+	// != is the inverse of ==.
+	equal, err := eq(arg1, arg2)
+	return !equal, err
+}
+
+// lt evaluates the comparison a < b.
+func lt(arg1, arg2 interface{}) (bool, error) {
+	v1 := reflect.ValueOf(arg1)
+	k1, err := basicKind(v1)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	v2 := reflect.ValueOf(arg2)
+	k2, err := basicKind(v2)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if k1 != k2 {
+		return false, errBadComparison
+	}
+	truth := false
+	switch k1 {
+	case boolKind, complexKind:
+		return false, errBadComparisonType
+	case floatKind:
+		truth = v1.Float() < v2.Float()
+	case intKind:
+		truth = v1.Int() < v2.Int()
+	case stringKind:
+		truth = v1.String() < v2.String()
+	case uintKind:
+		truth = v1.Uint() < v2.Uint()
+	default:
+		panic("invalid kind")
+	}
+	return truth, nil
+}
+
+// le evaluates the comparison <= b.
+func le(arg1, arg2 interface{}) (bool, error) {
+	// <= is < or ==.
+	lessThan, err := lt(arg1, arg2)
+	if lessThan || err != nil {
+		return lessThan, err
+	}
+	return eq(arg1, arg2)
+}
+
+// gt evaluates the comparison a > b.
+func gt(arg1, arg2 interface{}) (bool, error) {
+	// > is the inverse of <=.
+	lessOrEqual, err := le(arg1, arg2)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return !lessOrEqual, nil
+}
+
+// ge evaluates the comparison a >= b.
+func ge(arg1, arg2 interface{}) (bool, error) {
+	// >= is the inverse of <.
+	lessThan, err := lt(arg1, arg2)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return !lessThan, nil
+}
+
 // HTML escaping.
 
 var (