diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6bcad2b..2d95cba 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -351,6 +351,19 @@ Each threshold entry is used to define the upper bounds of the threshold. If you
 upper bound for your version number threshold you will need to provide an extreme upper bound -
 in this example it is `999.0.0`.
 
+### Escaping
+
+Badges are generated as .svg files, which utilize an XML-based markup language. Consequently,
+any HTML characters present in badge labels or values must be escaped to ensure proper
+representation. If you need to disable escaping, the following options are available:
+
+- Python API
+  - `escape_label=False`
+  - `escape_value=False`
+- CLI
+  - `--no-escape-label`
+  - `--no-escape-value`
+
 ### Examples
 
 #### Pylint using template
diff --git a/anybadge/badge.py b/anybadge/badge.py
index d21e1df..0e25473 100644
--- a/anybadge/badge.py
+++ b/anybadge/badge.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import os
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Dict, Type, Optional, Union
+import html
 
 from . import config
 from .colors import Color
@@ -122,6 +123,8 @@ class Badge:
         value_format: Optional[str] = None,
         text_color: Optional[str] = None,
         semver: Optional[bool] = False,
+        escape_label: Optional[bool] = True,
+        escape_value: Optional[bool] = True,
     ):
         """Constructor for Badge class."""
         # Set defaults if values were not passed
@@ -209,6 +212,9 @@ class Badge:
         self.use_max_when_value_exceeds = use_max_when_value_exceeds
         self.mask_str = self.__class__._get_next_mask_str()
 
+        self.escape_label = escape_label
+        self.escape_value = escape_value
+
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
         """Return a representation of the Badge object instance.
 
@@ -333,6 +339,20 @@ class Badge:
         else:
             return self.template
 
+    @property
+    def encoded_label(self) -> str:
+        if self.escape_label:
+            return html.escape(self.label)
+        else:
+            return self.label
+
+    @property
+    def encoded_value(self) -> str:
+        if self.escape_value:
+            return html.escape(self.value_text)
+        else:
+            return self.value_text
+
     @property
     def semver_version(self) -> Version:
         """The semantic version represented by the value string.
@@ -638,8 +658,8 @@ class Badge:
             badge_text.replace("{{ badge width }}", str(self.badge_width))
             .replace("{{ font name }}", self.font_name)
             .replace("{{ font size }}", str(self.font_size))
-            .replace("{{ label }}", self.label)
-            .replace("{{ value }}", self.value_text)
+            .replace("{{ label }}", self.encoded_label)
+            .replace("{{ value }}", self.encoded_value)
             .replace("{{ label anchor }}", str(self.label_anchor))
             .replace("{{ label anchor shadow }}", str(self.label_anchor_shadow))
             .replace("{{ value anchor }}", str(self.value_anchor))
diff --git a/anybadge/cli.py b/anybadge/cli.py
index 1f76bd2..97096a0 100644
--- a/anybadge/cli.py
+++ b/anybadge/cli.py
@@ -155,6 +155,18 @@ examples:
         default=False,
         help="Treat value and thresholds as semantic versions.",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--no-escape-label",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Do not escape the label text.",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--no-escape-value",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Do not escape the value text.",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "args",
         nargs=argparse.REMAINDER,
@@ -217,6 +229,8 @@ def main(args=None):
         value_format=args.value_format,
         text_color=args.text_color,
         semver=args.semver,
+        escape_label=not args.no_escape_label,
+        escape_value=not args.no_escape_value,
     )
 
     if args.file: