During the Parade of Nations section of the 1952 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded into the arena. The Parade of Nations was organized according to the Finnish name of the country. Greece led the parade followed by the Netherlands Antilles. Other countries marched by following the Finnish alphabet, except the host country, Finland, which marched last. The athletes from British Guiana and the People's Republic of China were absent from the Parade of Nations, meaning only 67 nations participated in the parade.
During the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, athletes from each participating country paraded in the stadium, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Paralympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. It is considered a great honour to bear the country's flag in the Parade of Nations.
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
The flag bearers of 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) arrived into the main Olympic Stadium, during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing on 24 August 2008. The flag bearers from each participating country entered the stadium informally in single file, and behind them marched all the athletes without any distinction or grouping by nationality. The blending of all the athletes is a tradition that dates from the 1956 Summer Olympics, after a suggestion by Australian-born British student John Ian Wing, who thought it would be a way of bringing the athletes of the world together as "one nation." The flags of each country were not necessarily carried by the same flag bearer as in the opening ceremony.
During the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games, athletes from each participating country paraded in the Olympic Stadium, preceded by its flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Paralympic Committee or by the athletes themselves.
During the parade of nations portion of the 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the Parade of Nations section of the 1994 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by name board bearers with a couple between them, and also the country flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. The Parade of Nations was organized according to the Bokmål Norwegian alphabet. As usual, Greece leads the parade, followed by American Samoa.Due logistical troubles, Mongolia did not march in the parade, but still compete in the Games. The announcers welcomed the country in their respective national language, English, and lastly French.
During the Parade of Nations section of the 1972 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1992 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1964 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. Although the Games were held in Japan, English was used to organize the Parade of Nations instead of Japanese. Had the parade followed the Japanese characters, Greece would have been followed by Iceland, and Rhodesia would have been the penultimate country before Japan. The Japanese language order would not be introduced until 2020 when the country hosted the games for the second time.
During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the parade of nations portion of the 1984 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the parade of nations section of the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from his or her respective country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.
During the 2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations at the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, beginning at 20:00 KST (UTC+9) on 9 February 2018, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in the host city of Pyeongchang, South Korea. 92 teams qualified to compete.
During the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Paralympics, athletes from each participating country paraded in the Maracanã Stadium, preceded by its flag and placard barrier. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Paralympic Committee or by the athletes themselves.
During the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China the flag bearers of 91 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) arrived into Beijing National Stadium on February 20th. The flag bearers from each participating country entered the stadium informally in single file, and behind them marched all the athletes. The flags of each country were not necessarily carried by the same flag bearer as in the opening ceremony.
During the Parade of Nations within the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony on March 4, athletes and officials from each participating country marched in the Beijing National Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer bearing the respective country's name. Each flag bearer was chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the team of athletes themselves.
During the opening ceremony of the 1928 Summer Olympics, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded into the arena. As Olympic tradition dictates, most participating nations paraded in the alphabetical order of the language of the host country, except Greece, who enters first at the founding nation of the Olympics, and the host country who enters last.
During the Parade of Nations, athletes from all participating countries entered the Olympisch Stadion. Each team was led by a flag bearer that was one of their athletes or officials, designated either by their respective National Olympic Committee (NOC) or by the athletes themselves.
Hong Kong [sent] a flagbearer and four athletes
 Olympic Games national flag bearers by year | |
|---|---|
| Summer Olympics | |
| Winter Olympics | |
| Intercalated Games | |
| Summer Youth Olympics | |
| Winter Youth Olympics | |
