diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d626337..31cb8d8 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,4 +11,7 @@ regex = "1.11"
 anyhow = "1.0"
 dirs = "5.0"
 thiserror = "2"
+tree-sitter = "0.24.6"
+tree-sitter-highlight = "0.24.6"
+tree-sitter-regex = "0.24.3"
 # clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }
diff --git a/src/highlight.rs b/src/highlight.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2230fc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/highlight.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+use crossterm::style::Color;
+use tree_sitter::Parser;
+use tree_sitter_highlight::{
+    Error, Highlight, HighlightConfiguration, HighlightEvent, Highlighter,
+};
+
+#[derive(PartialOrd, PartialEq, Eq, Ord, Clone)]
+// Order is Priotity when multiple groups are active
+enum HighlightGroup {
+    Flags,
+    Anchors,
+    Quantifiers,
+    CharacterClass,
+    Operator,
+    Escape,
+    Group,
+}
+
+macro_rules! group_data {
+    ($group:ident, $group_name:expr, $color:expr, [$($token:expr),*]) => {
+        HighlightGroupData {
+            group: HighlightGroup::$group,
+            group_name: $group_name,
+            color: $color,
+            query: {
+                const MATCHES: &str = concat!(
+                    "[ ",
+                    $(concat!("(", $token, ") "),)*
+                    "]"
+                );
+                Some(MATCHES)
+            }
+        }
+    };
+    ($group:ident, $group_name:expr, $color:expr) => {
+        HighlightGroupData {
+            group: HighlightGroup::$group,
+            group_name: $group_name,
+            color: $color,
+            query: None,
+        }
+    };
+}
+
+struct HighlightGroupData {
+    group: HighlightGroup,
+    group_name: &'static str,
+    color: Color,
+    query: Option<&'static str>,
+}
+
+impl HighlightGroup {
+    fn all() -> &'static [HighlightGroupData] {
+        &[
+            // if no token used, then the group definition comes from tree_sitter_regex::HIGHLIGHTS_QUERY
+            group_data!(Flags, "flags", Color::Blue, ["flags", "inline_flags_group"]),
+            group_data!(Anchors, "anchors", Color::Magenta, [
+                "start_assertion",
+                "end_assertion",
+                "boundary_assertion",
+                "non_boundary_assertion"
+            ]),
+            group_data!(Quantifiers, "quantifiers", Color::DarkMagenta, [
+                "one_or_more",
+                "optional",
+                "zero_or_more",
+                "count_quantifier"
+            ]),
+            group_data!(CharacterClass, "character_class", Color::DarkBlue, [
+                "character_class_escape",
+                "character_class"
+            ]),
+            group_data!(Operator, "operator", Color::DarkYellow),
+            group_data!(Escape, "escape", Color::Black),
+            group_data!(Group, "property", Color::Black),
+        ]
+    }
+
+    fn data(&self) -> &'static HighlightGroupData {
+        Self::all().iter().find(|x| &x.group == self).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    fn color(&self) -> Color {
+        self.data().color
+    }
+
+    fn group_name(&self) -> &'static str {
+        self.data().group_name
+    }
+
+    fn group_names() -> Vec<&'static str> {
+        Self::all().iter().map(|x| x.group_name).collect()
+    }
+
+    fn query(&self) -> Option<String> {
+        let data = self.data();
+        data.query.map(|q| format!("{} @{}", q, self.group_name()))
+    }
+}
+
+fn custom_queries() -> String {
+    HighlightGroup::all()
+        .iter()
+        .flat_map(|x| x.group.query())
+        .collect::<Vec<String>>()
+        .join("\n")
+}
+
+fn highlight_configuration() -> Result<HighlightConfiguration, Error> {
+    let mut parser = Parser::new();
+    parser
+        .set_language(&tree_sitter_regex::LANGUAGE.into())
+        .map_err(|_| Error::InvalidLanguage)?;
+
+    let highlights_query = [tree_sitter_regex::HIGHLIGHTS_QUERY, &custom_queries()].join("\n");
+
+    let mut highlight_configuration = HighlightConfiguration::new(
+        tree_sitter_regex::LANGUAGE.into(),
+        "regex",
+        &highlights_query,
+        "",
+        "",
+    )
+    .map_err(|_| Error::Unknown)?;
+
+    let hightlight_groups = HighlightGroup::group_names();
+
+    highlight_configuration.configure(&hightlight_groups);
+    Ok(highlight_configuration)
+}
+
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct HighlightEventWrapper {
+    iter: std::vec::IntoIter<Result<HighlightEvent, Error>>,
+    pos: usize,
+    limit: usize,
+    stack: Vec<HighlightGroup>,
+}
+
+impl HighlightEventWrapper {
+    pub fn new(re: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let mut highlighter = Highlighter::new();
+        let config = highlight_configuration()?;
+        let highlights = highlighter.highlight(&config, re, None, |_| None)?;
+        Ok(HighlightEventWrapper {
+            iter: highlights.collect::<Vec<_>>().into_iter(),
+            ..Default::default()
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+impl Iterator for HighlightEventWrapper {
+    type Item = Color;
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Color> {
+        if self.pos < self.limit {
+            self.pos += 1;
+            return self
+                .stack
+                .iter()
+                .min()
+                .map(|group| group.color())
+                .or(Some(Color::Reset));
+        }
+
+        if let Some(Ok(event)) = self.iter.next() {
+            match event {
+                HighlightEvent::HighlightStart(Highlight(num)) => {
+                    self.stack.push(HighlightGroup::all()[num].group.clone());
+                }
+                HighlightEvent::Source { start: _, end } => {
+                    self.limit = end;
+                }
+                HighlightEvent::HighlightEnd => {
+                    self.stack.pop();
+                }
+            }
+            self.next()
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index df5c7df..f9a9ba5 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use persist::Session;
 use regex::Cache as RegexCache;
 use render::Render;
 
+mod highlight;
 mod input;
 pub mod persist;
 mod regex;
diff --git a/src/render.rs b/src/render.rs
index 4d89107..86f90f7 100644
--- a/src/render.rs
+++ b/src/render.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use crossterm::{
     terminal::{Clear, ClearType},
 };
 
-use crate::{Group, LAYER_COLORS};
+use crate::{Group, LAYER_COLORS, highlight::HighlightEventWrapper};
 
 pub struct Render<W: io::Write>(W);
 
@@ -56,8 +56,14 @@ impl<W: io::Write> Render<W> {
     pub fn draw_regex_query(&mut self, s: &str, col: u16, row: u16) -> io::Result<()> {
         self.move_to(col, row)?;
         let mut layer = 0;
-
+        let mut syntax_highlighting = HighlightEventWrapper::new(s.as_bytes()).unwrap_or_default();
         for ch in s.chars() {
+            let syntax_color = syntax_highlighting
+                .by_ref()
+                .take(ch.len_utf8())
+                .last()
+                .unwrap_or(Color::Reset);
+
             let color = match ch {
                 '(' => {
                     layer += 1;
@@ -68,7 +74,7 @@ impl<W: io::Write> Render<W> {
                     layer = layer.saturating_sub(1);
                     color
                 }
-                _ => Color::Reset,
+                _ => syntax_color,
             };
             self.draw(color, ch)?;
         }