diff --git a/src/StaticArrays.jl b/src/StaticArrays.jl
index 07c47438..54d97807 100644
--- a/src/StaticArrays.jl
+++ b/src/StaticArrays.jl
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export SHermitianCompact
 
 export Size, Length
 
+export SA
 export @SVector, @SMatrix, @SArray
 export @MVector, @MMatrix, @MArray
 
@@ -113,6 +114,7 @@ include("SizedArray.jl")
 include("SDiagonal.jl")
 include("SHermitianCompact.jl")
 
+include("initializers.jl")
 include("convert.jl")
 
 include("abstractarray.jl")
diff --git a/src/initializers.jl b/src/initializers.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2eb471c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/initializers.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+"""
+    SA[ elements ]
+    SA{T}[ elements ]
+
+Create `SArray` literals using array construction syntax. The element type is
+inferred by promoting `elements` to a common type or set to `T` when `T` is
+provided explicitly.
+
+# Examples:
+
+* `SA[1.0, 2.0]` creates a length-2 `SVector` of `Float64` elements.
+* `SA[1 2; 3 4]` creates a 2×2 SMatrix of `Int`s.
+* `SA[1 2]` creates a 1×2 SMatrix of `Int`s.
+* `SA{Float32}[1, 2]` creates a length-2 `SVector` of `Float32` elements.
+"""
+struct SA{T} ; end
+
+@inline similar_type(::Type{SA}, ::Size{S}) where {S} = SArray{Tuple{S...}}
+@inline similar_type(::Type{SA{T}}, ::Size{S}) where {T,S} = SArray{Tuple{S...}, T}
+
+Base.@pure _SA_type(sa::Type{SA}, len::Int) = SVector{len}
+Base.@pure _SA_type(sa::Type{SA{T}}, len::Int) where {T} = SVector{len,T}
+
+@inline Base.getindex(sa::Type{<:SA}, xs...) where T = similar_type(sa, Size(length(xs)))(xs)
+@inline Base.typed_vcat(sa::Type{<:SA}, xs::Number...) where T = similar_type(sa, Size(length(xs)))(xs)
+@inline Base.typed_hcat(sa::Type{<:SA}, xs::Number...) where T = similar_type(sa, Size(1,length(xs)))(xs)
+
+Base.@pure function _SA_hvcat_transposed_size(rows)
+    M = rows[1]
+    if any(r->r != M, rows)
+        # @pure may not throw... probably. See
+        # https://discourse.julialang.org/t/can-pure-functions-throw-an-error/18459
+        return nothing
+    end
+    Size(M, length(rows))
+end
+
+@inline function Base.typed_hvcat(sa::Type{<:SA}, rows::Dims, xs::Number...) where T
+    msize = _SA_hvcat_transposed_size(rows)
+    if msize === nothing
+        throw(ArgumentError("SA[...] matrix rows of length $rows are inconsistent"))
+    end
+    # hvcat lowering is row major ordering, so we must transpose
+    transpose(similar_type(sa, msize)(xs))
+end
+
diff --git a/test/initializers.jl b/test/initializers.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d37ce64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/initializers.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+SA_test_ref(x)   = SA[1,x,x]
+SA_test_ref(x,T) = SA{T}[1,x,x]
+@test @inferred(SA_test_ref(2))   === SVector{3,Int}((1,2,2))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_ref(2.0)) === SVector{3,Float64}((1,2,2))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_ref(2,Float32))   === SVector{3,Float32}((1,2,2))
+
+SA_test_vcat(x)   = SA[1;x;x]
+SA_test_vcat(x,T) = SA{T}[1;x;x]
+@test @inferred(SA_test_vcat(2))   === SVector{3,Int}((1,2,2))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_vcat(2.0)) === SVector{3,Float64}((1,2,2))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_vcat(2,Float32))   === SVector{3,Float32}((1,2,2))
+
+SA_test_hcat(x)   = SA[1 x x]
+SA_test_hcat(x,T) = SA{T}[1 x x]
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hcat(2))   === SMatrix{1,3,Int}((1,2,2))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hcat(2.0)) === SMatrix{1,3,Float64}((1,2,2))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hcat(2,Float32))   === SMatrix{1,3,Float32}((1,2,2))
+
+SA_test_hvcat(x) = SA[1 x x;
+                      x 2 x]
+SA_test_hvcat(x,T) = SA{T}[1 x x;
+                           x 2 x]
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hvcat(3))   === SMatrix{2,3,Int}((1,3,3,2,3,3))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hvcat(3.0)) === SMatrix{2,3,Float64}((1,3,3,2,3,3))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hvcat(1.0im)) === SMatrix{2,3,ComplexF64}((1,1im,1im,2,1im,1im))
+@test @inferred(SA_test_hvcat(3,Float32))   === SMatrix{2,3,Float32}((1,3,3,2,3,3))
+
+@test SA[1] === SVector{1,Int}((1))
+
+@test_throws ArgumentError("SA[...] matrix rows of length (3, 2) are inconsistent") SA[1 2 3;
+                                                                                       4 5]
+@test_throws ArgumentError("SA[...] matrix rows of length (2, 3) are inconsistent") SA[1 2;
+                                                                                       3 4 5]
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 279cb7ad..339ee1f5 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ include("convert.jl")
 include("core.jl")
 include("abstractarray.jl")
 include("indexing.jl")
+include("initializers.jl")
 Random.seed!(42); include("mapreduce.jl")
 Random.seed!(42); include("arraymath.jl")
 include("broadcast.jl")