--- lisp/message.el	8 Mar 2004 06:54:23 -0000	7.14
+++ lisp/message.el	1 Apr 2004 18:12:54 -0000
@@ -404,6 +404,13 @@ for `message-cross-post-insert-note'."
   :link '(custom-manual "(message)Various Message Variables")
   :group 'message-various)
 
+(defcustom message-signature-inserted-separator "-- \n" 
+  "The string that is inserted before the signature to separate it from
+the message body."
+  :type 'string
+  :link '(custom-manual "(message)Various Message Variables")
+  :group 'message-various)
+
 (defcustom message-elide-ellipsis "\n[...]\n\n"
   "*The string which is inserted for elided text."
   :type 'string
@@ -2920,8 +2927,8 @@ Prefix arg means justify as well."
 	(insert "\n"))
       (when message-signature-insert-empty-line
 	(insert "\n"))
-      (insert "-- \n")
+      (insert message-signature-inserted-separator)
       (if (eq signature t)
 	  (insert-file-contents message-signature-file)
 	(insert signature))

--- texi/message.texi	5 Mar 2004 11:24:27 -0000	7.3
+++ texi/message.texi	1 Apr 2004 18:13:18 -0000
@@ -1876,6 +1876,15 @@ the @sc{mule}-to-@acronym{MIME} translat
 Regexp matching the signature separator.  It is @samp{^-- *$} by
 default.
 
+@item message-signature-inserted-separator
+@vindex message-signature-inserted-separator
+The string that separates the inserted signature from the message
+text. It is @samp{-- \n} by default.
+
+Please note that this is different from
+@code{message-signature-separator}, which is a regexp that helps in
+finding when the signature begins.
+
 @item mail-header-separator
 @vindex mail-header-separator
 String used to separate the headers from the body.  It is @samp{--text