diff --git a/guides/type_definitions/scalars.md b/guides/type_definitions/scalars.md
index b713c03542..cada689ef3 100644
--- a/guides/type_definitions/scalars.md
+++ b/guides/type_definitions/scalars.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Scalars are "leaf" values in GraphQL. There are several built-in scalars, and yo
 - `ID`, which a specialized `String` for representing unique object identifiers
 - `ISO8601DateTime`, an ISO 8601-encoded datetime
 - `ISO8601Date`, an ISO 8601-encoded date
+- `ISO8601Duration`, an ISO 8601-encoded duration. ⚠ This requires `ActiveSupport::Duration` to be loaded and will raise {{ "GraphQL::Error" | api_doc }} if it's `.coerce_*` methods are called when it is not defined.
 - `JSON`, ⚠ This returns arbitrary JSON (Ruby hashes, arrays, strings, integers, floats, booleans and nils). Take care: by using this type, you completely lose all GraphQL type safety. Consider building object types for your data instead.
 - `BigInt`, a numeric value which may exceed the size of a 32-bit integer
 
@@ -39,6 +40,8 @@ field :id, ID, null: false
 field :created_at, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601DateTime, null: false
 # ISO8601Date field
 field :birthday, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Date, null: false
+# ISO8601Duration field
+field :age, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration, null: false
 # JSON field ⚠
 field :parameters, GraphQL::Types::JSON, null: false
 # BigInt field
diff --git a/lib/graphql.rb b/lib/graphql.rb
index eadefeeac9..c63e3dc9aa 100644
--- a/lib/graphql.rb
+++ b/lib/graphql.rb
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ module EmptyObjects
 require "graphql/integer_encoding_error"
 require "graphql/string_encoding_error"
 require "graphql/date_encoding_error"
+require "graphql/duration_encoding_error"
 require "graphql/type_kinds"
 require "graphql/name_validator"
 require "graphql/language"
diff --git a/lib/graphql/duration_encoding_error.rb b/lib/graphql/duration_encoding_error.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9611bb7795
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/graphql/duration_encoding_error.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+module GraphQL
+  # This error is raised when `Types::ISO8601Duration` is asked to return a value
+  # that cannot be parsed as an ISO8601-formatted duration by ActiveSupport::Duration.
+  #
+  # @see GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration which raises this error
+  class DurationEncodingError < GraphQL::RuntimeTypeError
+    # The value which couldn't be encoded
+    attr_reader :duration_value
+
+    def initialize(value)
+      @duration_value = value
+      super("Duration cannot be parsed: #{value}. \nDuration must be an ISO8601-formatted duration.")
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/graphql/types.rb b/lib/graphql/types.rb
index 4cf1c56949..5d288c96da 100644
--- a/lib/graphql/types.rb
+++ b/lib/graphql/types.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 require "graphql/types/int"
 require "graphql/types/iso_8601_date"
 require "graphql/types/iso_8601_date_time"
+require "graphql/types/iso_8601_duration"
 require "graphql/types/json"
 require "graphql/types/string"
 require "graphql/types/relay"
diff --git a/lib/graphql/types/iso_8601_duration.rb b/lib/graphql/types/iso_8601_duration.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9c128900d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/graphql/types/iso_8601_duration.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+module GraphQL
+  module Types
+    # This scalar takes `Duration`s and transmits them as strings,
+    # using ISO 8601 format. ActiveSupport >= 5.0 must be loaded to use
+    # this scalar.
+    #
+    # Use it for fields or arguments as follows:
+    #
+    #     field :age, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration, null: false
+    #
+    #     argument :interval, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration, null: false
+    #
+    # Alternatively, use this built-in scalar as inspiration for your
+    # own Duration type.
+    class ISO8601Duration < GraphQL::Schema::Scalar
+      description "An ISO 8601-encoded duration"
+
+      # @return [Integer, nil]
+      def self.seconds_precision
+        # ActiveSupport::Duration precision defaults to whatever input was given
+        @seconds_precision
+      end
+
+      # @param [Integer, nil] value
+      def self.seconds_precision=(value)
+        @seconds_precision = value
+      end
+
+      # @param value [ActiveSupport::Duration, String]
+      # @return [String]
+      # @raise [GraphQL::Error] if ActiveSupport::Duration is not defined or if an incompatible object is passed
+      def self.coerce_result(value, _ctx)
+        unless defined?(ActiveSupport::Duration)
+          raise GraphQL::Error, "ActiveSupport >= 5.0 must be loaded to use the built-in ISO8601Duration type."
+        end
+
+        begin
+          case value
+          when ActiveSupport::Duration
+            value.iso8601(precision: seconds_precision)
+          when ::String
+            ActiveSupport::Duration.parse(value).iso8601(precision: seconds_precision)
+          else
+            # Try calling as ActiveSupport::Duration compatible as a fallback
+            value.iso8601(precision: seconds_precision)
+          end
+        rescue StandardError => error
+          raise GraphQL::Error, "An incompatible object (#{value.class}) was given to #{self}. Make sure that only ActiveSupport::Durations and well-formatted Strings are used with this type. (#{error.message})"
+        end
+      end
+
+      # @param value [String, ActiveSupport::Duration]
+      # @return [ActiveSupport::Duration, nil]
+      # @raise [GraphQL::Error] if ActiveSupport::Duration is not defined
+      # @raise [GraphQL::DurationEncodingError] if duration cannot be parsed
+      def self.coerce_input(value, ctx)
+        unless defined?(ActiveSupport::Duration)
+          raise GraphQL::Error, "ActiveSupport >= 5.0 must be loaded to use the built-in ISO8601Duration type."
+        end
+
+        begin
+          if value.is_a?(ActiveSupport::Duration)
+            value
+          elsif value.nil?
+            nil
+          else
+            ActiveSupport::Duration.parse(value)
+          end
+        rescue ArgumentError, TypeError
+          err = GraphQL::DurationEncodingError.new(value)
+          ctx.schema.type_error(err, ctx)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/integration/rails/graphql/types/iso_8601_duration_spec.rb b/spec/integration/rails/graphql/types/iso_8601_duration_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f1c9eaa38f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/integration/rails/graphql/types/iso_8601_duration_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+require "spec_helper"
+
+describe GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration do
+  module DurationTest
+    class Schema < GraphQL::Schema
+      def self.type_error(err, ctx)
+        raise err
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  let(:context) { GraphQL::Query.new(DurationTest::Schema, "{ __typename }").context }
+
+  # 3 years, 6 months, 4 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes, and 5.12345 seconds 
+  let (:duration_str) { "P3Y6M4DT12H30M5.12345S" }
+  let (:duration) { ActiveSupport::Duration.parse(duration_str) }
+
+  describe "coerce_result" do
+    describe "coercing ActiveSupport::Duration" do
+      it "coerces defaulting to same precision as input precision" do
+        assert_equal duration_str, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_result(duration, context)
+      end
+
+      it "coerces with seconds_precision when set" do
+        initial_precision = GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.seconds_precision
+
+        GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.seconds_precision = 2
+
+        assert_equal duration.iso8601(precision: 2), GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_result(duration, context)
+
+        GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.seconds_precision = initial_precision
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "coercing String" do
+      it "defaults to same precision as input precision" do
+        assert_equal duration_str, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_result(duration_str, context)
+      end
+
+      it "coerces with seconds_precision when set" do
+        initial_precision = GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.seconds_precision
+
+        GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.seconds_precision = 2
+
+        assert_equal duration.iso8601(precision: 2), GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_result(duration_str, context)
+
+        GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.seconds_precision = initial_precision
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "coercing incompatible objects" do
+      it "raises GraphQL::Error" do
+        assert_raises GraphQL::Error do
+          GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_result(Object.new, context)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "coerce_input" do
+    describe "coercing ActiveSupport::Duration" do
+      it "returns itself" do
+        assert_equal duration, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_input(duration, context)
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "coercing nil" do
+      it "returns nil" do
+        assert_equal nil, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_input(nil, context)
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "coercing String" do
+      it "returns a ActiveSupport::Duration for ISO8601-formatted durations" do
+        assert_equal duration, GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_input(duration_str, context)
+      end
+
+      it "raises GraphQL::DurationEncodingError for incorrectly formatted strings" do
+        assert_raises GraphQL::DurationEncodingError do
+          # ISO8601 dates are not durations
+          GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_input("2007-03-01T13:00:00Z", context)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "coercing other objects" do
+      it "raises GraphQL::DurationEncodingError" do
+        assert_raises GraphQL::DurationEncodingError do
+          # ISO8601 dates are not durations
+          GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_input(Object.new, context)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "when ActiveSupport is not defined" do
+    it "coerce_result and coerce_input raise GraphQL::Error" do
+      old_active_support = defined?(ActiveSupport) ? ActiveSupport : nil
+      Object.send(:remove_const, :ActiveSupport) if defined?(ActiveSupport)
+      
+      assert_raises GraphQL::Error do
+        GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_result("", context)
+      end
+
+      assert_raises GraphQL::Error do
+        GraphQL::Types::ISO8601Duration.coerce_input("", context)
+      end
+
+      ActiveSupport = old_active_support unless old_active_support.nil?
+    end
+  end
+end