diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index b6e7611bd37e..e6f161149105 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+2014-03-13 Add parameter 'clockwise' to function pie, True by default.
+
 2014-27-02  Implemented separate horizontal/vertical axes padding to the
            ImageGrid in the AxesGrid toolkit
 
diff --git a/doc/api/api_changes.rst b/doc/api/api_changes.rst
index 4520735f709f..640e9a082bca 100644
--- a/doc/api/api_changes.rst
+++ b/doc/api/api_changes.rst
@@ -144,6 +144,8 @@ original location:
   tuple-like if separate axis padding is required.
   The original behavior is preserved.
 
+* Added clockwise parameter to control sectors direction in `axes.pie`
+
 
 .. _changes_in_1_3:
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index 90d9b4f2d714..9474852a5c96 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -2339,8 +2339,8 @@ def stem(self, *args, **kwargs):
         return stem_container
 
     def pie(self, x, explode=None, labels=None, colors=None,
-            autopct=None, pctdistance=0.6, shadow=False,
-            labeldistance=1.1, startangle=None, radius=None):
+            autopct=None, pctdistance=0.6, shadow=False, labeldistance=1.1,
+            startangle=None, radius=None, counterclock=True):
         r"""
         Plot a pie chart.
 
@@ -2394,6 +2394,9 @@ def pie(self, x, explode=None, labels=None, colors=None,
           *radius*: [ *None* | scalar ]
           The radius of the pie, if *radius* is *None* it will be set to 1.
 
+          *counterclock*: [ *False* | *True* ]
+            Specify fractions direction, clockwise or counterclockwise.
+
         The pie chart will probably look best if the figure and axes are
         square, or the Axes aspect is equal.  e.g.::
 
@@ -2453,13 +2456,14 @@ def pie(self, x, explode=None, labels=None, colors=None,
         i = 0
         for frac, label, expl in cbook.safezip(x, labels, explode):
             x, y = center
-            theta2 = theta1 + frac
+            theta2 = (theta1 + frac) if counterclock else (theta1 - frac)
             thetam = 2 * math.pi * 0.5 * (theta1 + theta2)
             x += expl * math.cos(thetam)
             y += expl * math.sin(thetam)
 
-            w = mpatches.Wedge((x, y), radius, 360. * theta1, 360. * theta2,
-                               facecolor=colors[i % len(colors)])
+            w = mpatches.Wedge((x, y), radius, 360. * min(theta1, theta2),
+                            360. * max(theta1, theta2),
+                            facecolor=colors[i % len(colors)])
             slices.append(w)
             self.add_patch(w)
             w.set_label(label)