diff --git a/errors.go b/errors.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff11b66b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/errors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+package pflag
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// notExistErrorMessageType specifies which flavor of "flag does not exist"
+// is printed by NotExistError. This allows the related errors to be grouped
+// under a single NotExistError struct without making a breaking change to
+// the error message text.
+type notExistErrorMessageType int
+
+const (
+	flagNotExistMessage notExistErrorMessageType = iota
+	flagNotDefinedMessage
+	flagNoSuchFlagMessage
+	flagUnknownFlagMessage
+	flagUnknownShorthandFlagMessage
+)
+
+// NotExistError is the error returned when trying to access a flag that
+// does not exist in the FlagSet.
+type NotExistError struct {
+	name                string
+	specifiedShorthands string
+	messageType         notExistErrorMessageType
+}
+
+// Error implements error.
+func (e *NotExistError) Error() string {
+	switch e.messageType {
+	case flagNotExistMessage:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("flag %q does not exist", e.name)
+
+	case flagNotDefinedMessage:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("flag accessed but not defined: %s", e.name)
+
+	case flagNoSuchFlagMessage:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("no such flag -%v", e.name)
+
+	case flagUnknownFlagMessage:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("unknown flag: --%s", e.name)
+
+	case flagUnknownShorthandFlagMessage:
+		c := rune(e.name[0])
+		return fmt.Sprintf("unknown shorthand flag: %q in -%s", c, e.specifiedShorthands)
+	}
+
+	panic(fmt.Errorf("unknown flagNotExistErrorMessageType: %v", e.messageType))
+}
+
+// GetSpecifiedName returns the name of the flag (without dashes) as it
+// appeared in the parsed arguments.
+func (e *NotExistError) GetSpecifiedName() string {
+	return e.name
+}
+
+// GetSpecifiedShortnames returns the group of shorthand arguments
+// (without dashes) that the flag appeared within. If the flag was not in a
+// shorthand group, this will return an empty string.
+func (e *NotExistError) GetSpecifiedShortnames() string {
+	return e.specifiedShorthands
+}
+
+// ValueRequiredError is the error returned when a flag needs an argument but
+// no argument was provided.
+type ValueRequiredError struct {
+	flag                *Flag
+	specifiedName       string
+	specifiedShorthands string
+}
+
+// Error implements error.
+func (e *ValueRequiredError) Error() string {
+	if len(e.specifiedShorthands) > 0 {
+		c := rune(e.specifiedName[0])
+		return fmt.Sprintf("flag needs an argument: %q in -%s", c, e.specifiedShorthands)
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("flag needs an argument: --%s", e.specifiedName)
+}
+
+// GetFlag returns the flag for which the error occurred.
+func (e *ValueRequiredError) GetFlag() *Flag {
+	return e.flag
+}
+
+// GetSpecifiedName returns the name of the flag (without dashes) as it
+// appeared in the parsed arguments.
+func (e *ValueRequiredError) GetSpecifiedName() string {
+	return e.specifiedName
+}
+
+// GetSpecifiedShortnames returns the group of shorthand arguments
+// (without dashes) that the flag appeared within. If the flag was not in a
+// shorthand group, this will return an empty string.
+func (e *ValueRequiredError) GetSpecifiedShortnames() string {
+	return e.specifiedShorthands
+}
+
+// InvalidValueError is the error returned when an invalid value is used
+// for a flag.
+type InvalidValueError struct {
+	flag  *Flag
+	value string
+	cause error
+}
+
+// Error implements error.
+func (e *InvalidValueError) Error() string {
+	flag := e.flag
+	var flagName string
+	if flag.Shorthand != "" && flag.ShorthandDeprecated == "" {
+		flagName = fmt.Sprintf("-%s, --%s", flag.Shorthand, flag.Name)
+	} else {
+		flagName = fmt.Sprintf("--%s", flag.Name)
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("invalid argument %q for %q flag: %v", e.value, flagName, e.cause)
+}
+
+// Unwrap implements errors.Unwrap.
+func (e *InvalidValueError) Unwrap() error {
+	return e.cause
+}
+
+// GetFlag returns the flag for which the error occurred.
+func (e *InvalidValueError) GetFlag() *Flag {
+	return e.flag
+}
+
+// GetValue returns the invalid value that was provided.
+func (e *InvalidValueError) GetValue() string {
+	return e.value
+}
+
+// InvalidSyntaxError is the error returned when a bad flag name is passed on
+// the command line.
+type InvalidSyntaxError struct {
+	specifiedFlag string
+}
+
+// Error implements error.
+func (e *InvalidSyntaxError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("bad flag syntax: %s", e.specifiedFlag)
+}
+
+// GetSpecifiedName returns the exact flag (with dashes) as it
+// appeared in the parsed arguments.
+func (e *InvalidSyntaxError) GetSpecifiedFlag() string {
+	return e.specifiedFlag
+}
diff --git a/errors_test.go b/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7b4c7a4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package pflag
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestNotExistError(t *testing.T) {
+	err := &NotExistError{
+		name:                "foo",
+		specifiedShorthands: "bar",
+	}
+
+	if err.GetSpecifiedName() != "foo" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected GetSpecifiedName to return %q, got %q", "foo", err.GetSpecifiedName())
+	}
+	if err.GetSpecifiedShortnames() != "bar" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected GetSpecifiedShortnames to return %q, got %q", "bar", err.GetSpecifiedShortnames())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestValueRequiredError(t *testing.T) {
+	err := &ValueRequiredError{
+		flag:                &Flag{},
+		specifiedName:       "foo",
+		specifiedShorthands: "bar",
+	}
+
+	if err.GetFlag() == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected GetSpecifiedName to return its flag field, but got nil")
+	}
+	if err.GetSpecifiedName() != "foo" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected GetSpecifiedName to return %q, got %q", "foo", err.GetSpecifiedName())
+	}
+	if err.GetSpecifiedShortnames() != "bar" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected GetSpecifiedShortnames to return %q, got %q", "bar", err.GetSpecifiedShortnames())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInvalidValueError(t *testing.T) {
+	expectedCause := errors.New("error")
+	err := &InvalidValueError{
+		flag:  &Flag{},
+		value: "foo",
+		cause: expectedCause,
+	}
+
+	if err.GetFlag() == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected GetSpecifiedName to return its flag field, but got nil")
+	}
+	if err.GetValue() != "foo" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected GetValue to return %q, got %q", "foo", err.GetValue())
+	}
+	if err.Unwrap() != expectedCause {
+		t.Errorf("Expected Unwrwap to return %q, got %q", expectedCause, err.Unwrap())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInvalidSyntaxError(t *testing.T) {
+	err := &InvalidSyntaxError{
+		specifiedFlag: "--=",
+	}
+
+	if err.GetSpecifiedFlag() != "--=" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected GetSpecifiedFlag to return %q, got %q", "--=", err.GetSpecifiedFlag())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/flag.go b/flag.go
index 4bdbd0c0..80bd5800 100644
--- a/flag.go
+++ b/flag.go
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) lookup(name NormalizedName) *Flag {
 func (f *FlagSet) getFlagType(name string, ftype string, convFunc func(sval string) (interface{}, error)) (interface{}, error) {
 	flag := f.Lookup(name)
 	if flag == nil {
-		err := fmt.Errorf("flag accessed but not defined: %s", name)
+		err := &NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagNotDefinedMessage}
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) ArgsLenAtDash() int {
 func (f *FlagSet) MarkDeprecated(name string, usageMessage string) error {
 	flag := f.Lookup(name)
 	if flag == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("flag %q does not exist", name)
+		return &NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagNotExistMessage}
 	}
 	if usageMessage == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("deprecated message for flag %q must be set", name)
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) MarkDeprecated(name string, usageMessage string) error {
 func (f *FlagSet) MarkShorthandDeprecated(name string, usageMessage string) error {
 	flag := f.Lookup(name)
 	if flag == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("flag %q does not exist", name)
+		return &NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagNotExistMessage}
 	}
 	if usageMessage == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("deprecated message for flag %q must be set", name)
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) MarkShorthandDeprecated(name string, usageMessage string) erro
 func (f *FlagSet) MarkHidden(name string) error {
 	flag := f.Lookup(name)
 	if flag == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("flag %q does not exist", name)
+		return &NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagNotExistMessage}
 	}
 	flag.Hidden = true
 	return nil
@@ -464,18 +464,16 @@ func (f *FlagSet) Set(name, value string) error {
 	normalName := f.normalizeFlagName(name)
 	flag, ok := f.formal[normalName]
 	if !ok {
-		return fmt.Errorf("no such flag -%v", name)
+		return &NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagNoSuchFlagMessage}
 	}
 
 	err := flag.Value.Set(value)
 	if err != nil {
-		var flagName string
-		if flag.Shorthand != "" && flag.ShorthandDeprecated == "" {
-			flagName = fmt.Sprintf("-%s, --%s", flag.Shorthand, flag.Name)
-		} else {
-			flagName = fmt.Sprintf("--%s", flag.Name)
+		return &InvalidValueError{
+			flag:  flag,
+			value: value,
+			cause: err,
 		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid argument %q for %q flag: %v", value, flagName, err)
 	}
 
 	if !flag.Changed {
@@ -501,7 +499,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) SetAnnotation(name, key string, values []string) error {
 	normalName := f.normalizeFlagName(name)
 	flag, ok := f.formal[normalName]
 	if !ok {
-		return fmt.Errorf("no such flag -%v", name)
+		return &NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagNoSuchFlagMessage}
 	}
 	if flag.Annotations == nil {
 		flag.Annotations = map[string][]string{}
@@ -911,10 +909,9 @@ func VarP(value Value, name, shorthand, usage string) {
 	CommandLine.VarP(value, name, shorthand, usage)
 }
 
-// failf prints to standard error a formatted error and usage message and
+// fail prints an error message and usage message to standard error and
 // returns the error.
-func (f *FlagSet) failf(format string, a ...interface{}) error {
-	err := fmt.Errorf(format, a...)
+func (f *FlagSet) fail(err error) error {
 	if f.errorHandling != ContinueOnError {
 		fmt.Fprintln(f.Output(), err)
 		f.usage()
@@ -960,7 +957,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) parseLongArg(s string, args []string, fn parseFunc) (a []strin
 	a = args
 	name := s[2:]
 	if len(name) == 0 || name[0] == '-' || name[0] == '=' {
-		err = f.failf("bad flag syntax: %s", s)
+		err = f.fail(&InvalidSyntaxError{specifiedFlag: s})
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -982,7 +979,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) parseLongArg(s string, args []string, fn parseFunc) (a []strin
 
 			return stripUnknownFlagValue(a), nil
 		default:
-			err = f.failf("unknown flag: --%s", name)
+			err = f.fail(&NotExistError{name: name, messageType: flagUnknownFlagMessage})
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -1000,13 +997,16 @@ func (f *FlagSet) parseLongArg(s string, args []string, fn parseFunc) (a []strin
 		a = a[1:]
 	} else {
 		// '--flag' (arg was required)
-		err = f.failf("flag needs an argument: %s", s)
+		err = f.fail(&ValueRequiredError{
+			flag:          flag,
+			specifiedName: name,
+		})
 		return
 	}
 
 	err = fn(flag, value)
 	if err != nil {
-		f.failf(err.Error())
+		f.fail(err)
 	}
 	return
 }
@@ -1039,7 +1039,11 @@ func (f *FlagSet) parseSingleShortArg(shorthands string, args []string, fn parse
 			outArgs = stripUnknownFlagValue(outArgs)
 			return
 		default:
-			err = f.failf("unknown shorthand flag: %q in -%s", c, shorthands)
+			err = f.fail(&NotExistError{
+				name:                string(c),
+				specifiedShorthands: shorthands,
+				messageType:         flagUnknownShorthandFlagMessage,
+			})
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -1062,7 +1066,11 @@ func (f *FlagSet) parseSingleShortArg(shorthands string, args []string, fn parse
 		outArgs = args[1:]
 	} else {
 		// '-f' (arg was required)
-		err = f.failf("flag needs an argument: %q in -%s", c, shorthands)
+		err = f.fail(&ValueRequiredError{
+			flag:                flag,
+			specifiedName:       string(c),
+			specifiedShorthands: shorthands,
+		})
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1072,7 +1080,7 @@ func (f *FlagSet) parseSingleShortArg(shorthands string, args []string, fn parse
 
 	err = fn(flag, value)
 	if err != nil {
-		f.failf(err.Error())
+		f.fail(err)
 	}
 	return
 }
diff --git a/flag_test.go b/flag_test.go
index 0dbe8741..aa2f4341 100644
--- a/flag_test.go
+++ b/flag_test.go
@@ -103,9 +103,14 @@ func TestEverything(t *testing.T) {
 func TestUsage(t *testing.T) {
 	called := false
 	ResetForTesting(func() { called = true })
-	if GetCommandLine().Parse([]string{"--x"}) == nil {
+	err := GetCommandLine().Parse([]string{"--x"})
+	expectedErr := "unknown flag: --x"
+	if err == nil {
 		t.Error("parse did not fail for unknown flag")
 	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
 	if called {
 		t.Error("did call Usage while using ContinueOnError")
 	}
@@ -131,9 +136,14 @@ func TestAddFlagSet(t *testing.T) {
 func TestAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 	f := NewFlagSet("shorthand", ContinueOnError)
 
-	if err := f.SetAnnotation("missing-flag", "key", nil); err == nil {
+	err := f.SetAnnotation("missing-flag", "key", nil)
+	expectedErr := "no such flag -missing-flag"
+	if err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("Expected error setting annotation on non-existent flag")
 	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
 
 	f.StringP("stringa", "a", "", "string value")
 	if err := f.SetAnnotation("stringa", "key", nil); err != nil {
@@ -349,6 +359,33 @@ func testParse(f *FlagSet, t *testing.T) {
 	} else if f.Args()[0] != extra {
 		t.Errorf("expected argument %q got %q", extra, f.Args()[0])
 	}
+	// Test unknown
+	err := f.Parse([]string{"--unknown"})
+	expectedErr := "unknown flag: --unknown"
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("parse did not fail for unknown flag")
+	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
+	// Test invalid
+	err = f.Parse([]string{"--bool=abcdefg"})
+	expectedErr = `invalid argument "abcdefg" for "--bool" flag: strconv.ParseBool: parsing "abcdefg": invalid syntax`
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("parse did not fail for invalid argument")
+	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
+	// Test required
+	err = f.Parse([]string{"--int"})
+	expectedErr = `flag needs an argument: --int`
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("parse did not fail for missing argument")
+	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
 }
 
 func testParseAll(f *FlagSet, t *testing.T) {
@@ -538,6 +575,24 @@ func TestShorthand(t *testing.T) {
 	if f.ArgsLenAtDash() != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("expected argsLenAtDash %d got %d", f.ArgsLenAtDash(), 1)
 	}
+	// Test unknown
+	err := f.Parse([]string{"-ukn"})
+	expectedErr := "unknown shorthand flag: 'u' in -ukn"
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("parse did not fail for unknown shorthand flag")
+	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
+	// Test required
+	err = f.Parse([]string{"-as"})
+	expectedErr = `flag needs an argument: 's' in -s`
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("parse did not fail for missing argument")
+	}
+	if err.Error() != expectedErr {
+		t.Errorf("expected error %q, got %q", expectedErr, err.Error())
+	}
 }
 
 func TestShorthandLookup(t *testing.T) {