Having received his driving licence, Niko Alm now wants to get pastafarianism officially recognised.
An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".

Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons.

Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.

The Austrian authorities required him to obtain a doctor's certificate that he was "psychologically fit" to drive.

The idea came into Mr Alm's noodle three years ago as a way of making a serious, if ironic, point.

A self-confessed atheist, Mr Alm says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted faith whose members call themselves pastafarians.

The group's website states that "the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma".

In response to pressure for American schools to teach the Christian theory known as intelligent design, as an alternative to natural selection, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster wrote to the Kansas School Board asking for the pastafarian version of intelligent design to be taught to schoolchildren, as an alternative to the Christian theory.

A medical interview established the self-styled 'pastafarian' was mentally fit to drive.


In the same spirit, Mr Alm's pastafarian-style application for a driving licence was a response to the Austrian recognition of confessional headgear in official photographs.

The licence took three years to come through and, according to Mr Alm, he was asked to submit to a medical interview to check on his mental fitness to drive but - straining credulity - his efforts have finally paid off.

It is the police who issue driving licences in Austria, and they have duly issued a laminated card showing Mr Alm in his unorthodox item of religious headgear.

The next step, Mr Alm told the Austrian news agency APA, is to apply to the Austrian authorities for pastafarianism to become an officially recognised faith.




Having received his driving licence, Niko Alm now wants to get pastafarianism officially recognised.

Ha! Yeah, I heard about this. Its pretty awesome ... and funny to boot!

yaa mon... me wants to be a pastafarian too mon...

so that would make atheism a recognized 'religion' too?

IM confused as to why a 'religion' whose only dogma

"" is the rejection of dogma".


would have any such required dressing codes,,,,,

but I guess thats where 'equality' gets extended to even the most silly of intentions,,,

well, if he wants to wear a pasta strainer on his head while getting his DL photo, he should be allowed... it shows his devotion to the flying spaghetti monster god...

I agree, if it doesnt distract from the ability to identify him in his picture,,,whatever floats his boat