diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new/deprecations.rst b/doc/users/whats_new/deprecations.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1ec8f58dac4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/whats_new/deprecations.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Deprecations
+------------
+
+- The "Vega" colormaps are deprecated in Matplotlib 2.0.1 and will be removed
+  in Matplotlib 2.2. Use the "tab" colormaps instead: "tab10", "tab20",
+  "tab20b", "tab20c".
diff --git a/examples/color/colormaps_reference.py b/examples/color/colormaps_reference.py
index 9f2c87e4a661..476920a58493 100644
--- a/examples/color/colormaps_reference.py
+++ b/examples/color/colormaps_reference.py
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@
                              'RdBu', 'RdGy', 'RdYlBu', 'RdYlGn', 'Spectral',
                              'seismic']),
          ('Qualitative',    ['Accent', 'Dark2', 'Paired', 'Pastel1',
-                             'Pastel2', 'Set1', 'Set2', 'Set3', 'Vega10',
-                             'Vega20', 'Vega20b', 'Vega20c']),
+                             'Pastel2', 'Set1', 'Set2', 'Set3', 'tab10',
+                             'tab20', 'tab20b', 'tab20c']),
          ('Miscellaneous',  ['gist_earth', 'terrain', 'ocean', 'gist_stern',
                              'brg', 'CMRmap', 'cubehelix',
                              'gnuplot', 'gnuplot2', 'gist_ncar',
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/_cm.py b/lib/matplotlib/_cm.py
index 8523e1cb444b..2c229c879324 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/_cm.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/_cm.py
@@ -1283,7 +1283,7 @@ def gfunc32(x):
 # (divided by 255)
 #
 
-_Vega10_data = (
+_tab10_data = (
     (0.12156862745098039, 0.4666666666666667,  0.7058823529411765  ),  # 1f77b4
     (1.0,                 0.4980392156862745,  0.054901960784313725),  # ff7f0e
     (0.17254901960784313, 0.6274509803921569,  0.17254901960784313 ),  # 2ca02c
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ def gfunc32(x):
     (0.09019607843137255, 0.7450980392156863,  0.8117647058823529),    # 17becf
     )
 
-_Vega20_data = (
+_tab20_data = (
 	(0.12156862745098039, 0.4666666666666667,  0.7058823529411765  ),  # 1f77b4
 	(0.6823529411764706,  0.7803921568627451,  0.9098039215686274  ),  # aec7e8
 	(1.0,                 0.4980392156862745,  0.054901960784313725),  # ff7f0e
@@ -1319,7 +1319,7 @@ def gfunc32(x):
 	(0.6196078431372549,  0.8549019607843137,  0.8980392156862745),    # 9edae5
     )
 
-_Vega20b_data = (
+_tab20b_data = (
 	(0.2235294117647059,  0.23137254901960785, 0.4745098039215686 ),  # 393b79
 	(0.3215686274509804,  0.32941176470588235, 0.6392156862745098 ),  # 5254a3
 	(0.4196078431372549,  0.43137254901960786, 0.8117647058823529 ),  # 6b6ecf
@@ -1342,7 +1342,7 @@ def gfunc32(x):
 	(0.8705882352941177,  0.6196078431372549,  0.8392156862745098 ),  # de9ed6
     )
 
-_Vega20c_data = (
+_tab20c_data = (
 	(0.19215686274509805, 0.5098039215686274,  0.7411764705882353  ),  # 3182bd
 	(0.4196078431372549,  0.6823529411764706,  0.8392156862745098  ),  # 6baed6
 	(0.6196078431372549,  0.792156862745098,   0.8823529411764706  ),  # 9ecae1
@@ -1380,6 +1380,15 @@ def __getitem__(self, key):
                 alternative="nipy_spectral and nipy_spectral_r",
                 obj_type="colormap"
                 )
+        elif key in ["Vega10", "Vega10_r", "Vega20", "Vega20_r", "Vega20b",
+                     "Vega20b_r", "Vega20c", "Vega20c_r"]:
+            warn_deprecated(
+                "2.0",
+                name="Vega colormaps",
+                alternative="tab",
+                obj_type="colormap"
+                )
+ 
         return super(_deprecation_datad, self).__getitem__(key)
 
 
@@ -1465,7 +1474,12 @@ def __getitem__(self, key):
 datad['Set2'] = {'listed': _Set2_data}
 datad['Set3'] = {'listed': _Set3_data}
 
-datad['Vega10'] = {'listed': _Vega10_data}
-datad['Vega20'] = {'listed': _Vega20_data}
-datad['Vega20b'] = {'listed': _Vega20b_data}
-datad['Vega20c'] = {'listed': _Vega20c_data}
+datad['tab10'] = {'listed': _tab10_data}
+datad['tab20'] = {'listed': _tab20_data}
+datad['tab20b'] = {'listed': _tab20b_data}
+datad['tab20c'] = {'listed': _tab20c_data}
+
+datad['Vega10'] = {'listed': _tab10_data}
+datad['Vega20'] = {'listed': _tab20_data}
+datad['Vega20b'] = {'listed': _tab20b_data}
+datad['Vega20c'] = {'listed': _tab20c_data}