text: An eccentric man is fighting to keep his driving licence photo as a picture of him with a colander on his head because it is his 'religious right'. Ian Harris, 51, from Brighton, East Sussex, is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster whose followers, known as Pastafarians, regard the pasta strainer as a religious garment. He is challenging the DVLA over his rights to wear the metal bowl in his licence photo, which he says is equivalent to Muslim women being pictured in hijabs. Ian Harris is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose followers believe the colander is a religious garment and he is fighting with the DVLA for his right to wear one in his driving licence photo . The father-of-one has already been turned down once by the government agency but has sent off a fresh photo wearing the headgear in a second bid. Mr Harris said: 'I'm fighting for the right to have my religious headgear shown on my photo. I don't understand the DVLA should be able to discriminate whether my religion is valid. 'I have a spiritual connection with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, until they have brain probes how are they going to say I don't? 'Our religion is a minority but the DVLA is discriminating because it allows people who practise major religions to wear headgear in pictures.' The musician had his appeal rejected last month but hopes to emulate fellow believer Niko Alm from Austria, who won the legal right to wear the headgear in his licence photo in 2011. Mr Alm sent off for the licence in 2008 and he was invited to the doctor's to check he was mentally fit to drive, but after three years, his efforts finally paid off. Mr Harris began following the religion, along with his daughter Astri, 4, after it was set up in the USA in 2005 to protest the teaching of creationism as an alternative to evolution in science classes. Members claim to believe that an invisible alien made of spaghetti and meatballs created the universe after 'drinking heavily.' According to its tongue-in-cheek website their 'only dogma ... is the rejection of dogma'. Rejection: Mr Harris has already been turned down once by the government agency but has sent off a fresh photo wearing the headgear and in a second bid . A DVLA spokesman said: 'The photograph must be clear and be a current likeness to allow the Police to link the driver to driving entitlement held without confusion or ambiguity. 'Headgear is generally not acceptable, but may be permissible on religious or medical grounds and any exemptions are dealt with on a case by case basis.' Religious exemptions include the Sikh turban and the Islamic Hijab. Mr Harris, who plays banjo in The Iron Boot Scrapers, vows to fight his corner until he runs out of appeals when he will be forced to send a photo of him without the colander. He said: 'When I get to the final appeal I will have to send a photo without a colander but that would be a bad day for religious freedom.' Other countries including the United States, Austria and the Czech Republic allow Pastafarians to wear the metal sieves in their licence pictures. The Austrian authorities allowed Niko Alm to wear the unusual headgear as it is deemed a suitable accessory for his 'Pastafarian' religion . Shawna Hammon from Oklahoma was allowed to pose for her driver's license wearing a spaghetti strainer on her head because it falls under the state's rules for religious headwear . In September last year Shawna Hammond from Oklahoma, U.S. was granted permission to wear one in her licence photograph. She said  the photo obeyed the state's laws that requires people remove their glasses and wear a religious headpiece that does not cover their face, create shadows, or display text or logos. Earlier that year, Christopher Schaeffer, a council member in Pomfret, New York wore a colander on his head as he was sworn into office. In 2013, a Czech man was allowed to wear the headgear on his official identity card after officials ruled that turning down his request would be a breach of the country's religious equality laws. In 2005, a physics graduate from Oregon State wrote a letter about a 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' as a form of protest against the Kansas State Board of Education's decision to allow the teaching of Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution in public schools. By professing belief in a supernatural entity composed of pasta and meatballs, Bobby Henderson, 24, called on 'Pastafarianism' to be given equal time in science classrooms alongside Christian theory. Word rapidly spread and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CFSM) now has thousands of followers, mainly on college campuses and in Europe. The central tenet of CFSM is that an invisible Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe 'after drinking heavily'. Pastafarians celebrate every Friday as a holy day - and consider pirates 'absolute divine beings'.
target: Ian Harris, 51, is challenging DVLA over rights to wear colander in licence .
  He claims it is the equivalent of a Muslim woman wearing a hijab in photo .
  Father-of-one turned down by driving agency but is making a second bid .
  Church of the Flying Spaghetti members say colander is religious garment .