'Pastafarian' man wins right to wear colander on his head in driving licence photo

Andrei Filin is a member of The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Andrei Filin wearing the yellow knitted colander (YouTube)

A Russian man has won the right to wear a colander on his head in his driving licence photo, after insisting the kitchen utensil is part of his ‘Pastafarian’ religious beliefs.

Andrei Filin, who wears a knitted yellow pasta strainer on his licence, is a follower of The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster – a US-based parody faith satirising religion.

He is the first person in Russia and the fifth person in the world to be allowed to don the kitchenwear on his driving license.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Filin said: “The first license with a colander in Russia! What a great day!”

The driving licence was issued by a Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety office in Moscow on 9 January, Russia Beyond the Headlines reports.

The deputy head of the Moscow State Traffic Inspectorate, Vladimir Kuzin, told Russian media that if Mr Filin is ever stopped by traffic police he must have a colander on his head or “his license will be taken from him,” Russia Today reports.

Mr Kuzin added there are no plans to change the regulations for driving licence photos.

Russian traffic police said on Tuesday they are investigating why Mr Filin was allowed to take the photo wearing the knitted hat, adding if it any rules are found to have been violated the license will be annulled.

Mr Filin told Russia Today: “If they try to take my license away - it will be a scandal. A few lawyers have already offered me their support and I would gladly accept their help.”

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, created in 2005, was designed to satirise creationism and the literal interpretation of religious scripture. It holds a giant invisible and inebriated spaghetti monster created the Earth about 4,000 years ago by accident.

In November Lindsay Miller from Massachusetts was allowed to wear a colander in her driving licence photo. She won an appeal to wear the kitchenware with the help of an attorney associated with the American Humanist Association.

In 2011, Niko Alm from Austria became the first person to win the right to wear a colander in is driving licence photo, citing himself as a 'Pastafarian'.