In a three-year battle with authorities, an Austrian man has been granted a driver's license with a photograph of him wearing a spaghetti strainer as religious headgear, the BBC has reported.

When self-confessed atheist Niko Alm first applied for the license he told the authorities that he needed to wear a sieve, which was a requirement of his religion, Pastafarianism.

Alm is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Church was established in a 2005 when a 24-year-old Bobby Henderson wrote to the Kansas State Board of Education, saying that his belief of a flying spaghetti monster that created the universe should be taught as well. The letter became an Internet phenomenon, creating a satirical new religion.

According to the BBC, Alm took a similar approach towards the Austrian recognition of confessional headgear in official photographs. Before Alm was granted his license, he was asked to submit a psychological report that identified him fit to drive.

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