How to define ESC char in git?

Question

I want to use coloring in git output, e.g.:

git log --decorate --color

When I issue this command I get output looking like ESC[1;32m where ESC is in reversed color.
This looks to me as a valid escape sequence, except that the \033 must be sent and not the characters E, S and C.
When I issue an ls command, I get coloring of the files according to the rights. So nothing wrong with the capabilities.

Is there an environment variable that must be set to the value of the ESC char? Or am I looking in the wrong direction?
I am running openSUSE 11.1