An American woman who identifies as a member of a parody religion has won the right to wear a colander in her driver's licence photo.

Massachusetts resident Lindsay Miller, a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, had previously been told she could not wear the pasta strainer in her licence photo by her state's Registry of Motor Vehicles, CBS Boston reported.

The RMV does not allow people to wear hat or head coverings, except for medical or religious reasons, according to its website.

Ms Miller was put in touch with a lawyer from the American Humanist Association who filed an appeal on her behalf, which Ms Miller won.

Lindsay Miller's Massachusetts licence. ( The Humanist )

She received her driver's licence, complete with a photo of her wearing a colander, last week.

"I feel delighted that my Pastafarianism has been respected by the Massachusetts RMV," Ms Miller told The Humanist, the American Humanist Association's magazine.

"While I don't think the government can involve itself in matters of religion, I do hope this decision encourages my fellow Pastafarian atheists to come out and express themselves as I have."

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose members refer to themselves as "Pastafarians", is a parody religion which takes the view that the existence of a Flying Spaghetti Monster is as likely as the existence of other gods.

The movement was sparked 10 years ago by a satirical letter written to protest Kansas schools teaching intelligent design — an alternative form of creationism.