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2008 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations was part of the opening ceremony that originating with the 1896 Olympic Games. The national team from each nation participating in the Olympic Games paraded behind their national flag into the Olympic Stadium. The flag bearer was an athlete of each national delegation chosen, to represent the athletes, either by the National Olympic Committee or by the national team.
Per tradition, the national team of Greece, which hosted the previous Summer Olympics, in Athens, entered first as the progenitor of the Olympic Games, and the host country, in this case China, marched last. Each nation marched in name order in the language of the host nation, which in this case is the Chinese language. The collation method used is based on the names as written in Simplified Chinese characters [1] and is similar to that used in Chinese dictionaries. The names were sorted by the number of strokes in the first character of the name, then by the stroke order of the character (in the order 橫竖撇捺折, c.f. Wubi method), then the number of strokes and stroke order of the second character, then next character and so on. For example, this placed Australia (澳大利亚) in 202nd position, just ahead of Zambia (赞比亚) because the initial character for "Australia" ( 澳 ) is written in 15 strokes, while that for "Zambia" ( 赞 ) is written in 16 strokes.
An exception to the ordering was Macedonia, which entered under its provisional designation as used by the IOC, "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (前南斯拉夫马其顿共和国), but was sorted under 马其顿 (Mǎqídùn = "Macedonia.")
After marching in as a joint team in the previous two editions of the games, North Korea (Choson – 朝鲜; pinyin: Cháoxiǎn) and South Korea (Hanguk – 韩国; pinyin: Hánguó) marched in separate teams after negotiations failed for political reasons. [2] The North Korean delegation were initially slated to march immediately after the South Korean delegation in stroke collation order, but successfully requested to be moved three teams later in the parade order. [2]
The Marshall Islands, Montenegro and Tuvalu participation in the Olympic Games with their debut at these Games, [3] and Serbia competed under this name for the first time after the 1912 Summer Olympics. Montenegro and Serbia were previously part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro. Brunei was excluded from the Games by the IOC shortly before the Opening Ceremony as no athletes had been registered. [4] Brunei athletes would have marched 36th between Uzbekistan and Barbados.
Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in French, English, (the official languages of the Olympics) and Mandarin Chinese with music accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium.
The following is a list of each country's flag bearer. The list is sorted by the sequence that each nation appeared in the parade of nations. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC, and the Chinese names follow their official designations by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was first time the new Paralympic logo featured in the Summer Paralympics since its rebranding after the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
The Maldives competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The country's participation at the Beijing Olympics marked its seventh appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The delegation included four athletes, two in athletics, and two in swimming who participated in four distinct events. Its four athletes did not advance past the first round in each of their events. Aminath Rouya Hussain carried the Maldivian flag during the parade of nations of the opening ceremony with sprinter Ali Shareef being the flagbearer for the closing ceremony. The country failed to win an Olympic medal at these Games and has yet to win their first medal.
Nauru competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that were celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Nauru was represented by the Nauru Olympic Committee, and was the only nation out of 204 participating nations and territories that sent only a single athlete, and was one of 117 that won no medals at the Games. The sole athlete to represent the nation was Itte Detenamo, who participated in the weightlifting, and was the flag bearer in both the opening and closing ceremonies. This was the same number of athletes as at the 1996 Olympics, when Marcus Stephen represented the country in the same sport, but was a decrease from the nation's last appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to Athens. Nauru earned a berth for the weightlifting event in the Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships in 2008 and a chance to send participants in swimming and athletics events, but chose to send only a weightlifter. Itte Detenamo competed in the Group B of heavyweight class, fifteenth and last event of the weightlifting. He did not earn a medal, but finished with a personal best.
Palau competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Palau's Olympic delegation was led by Frank Kyota, the President of the Palau National Olympic Committee, and consisted of five athletes, three team officials and four coaches. This was an increase from the nation's two previous appearances at the Summer Olympic Games; four athletes had been sent to both the Sydney and Athens Games. Palau's Olympic team was one of the 117 that won no medals at the Games.
Panama competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Yesika Jimenez was the delegation's flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony.
Aruba competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Their participation marked their sixth Olympic appearance, and included the smallest number of athletes that had ever represented Aruba in its history. Two Arubans competed in the Olympic games: Jan Roodzant participated as a swimmer, and Fiderd Vis participated in judo. The Aruban delegation arrived in Beijing between August 1 and August 4, including the athletes, coaches, and various officials from both the IOC and the Aruban Olympic Committee, Aruba's local Olympic committee. Fiderd Vis came to Beijing on special invitation from the IOC, which had observed his progress while he trained in Brazil. Vis was the flagbearer in the opening ceremony, while Roodzant was so in the closing ceremony. Both athletes were eliminated in the preliminary rounds on August 12, 2008; consequently, Aruba did not earn any medals.
The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 20:00 China Standard Time (UTC+08:00) on Friday, 8 August 2008, as the number 8 is considered to be auspicious. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. The artistic part of the ceremony comprised two parts titled "Brilliant Civilization" and "Glorious Era" respectively. The first part highlighted the Chinese civilization and the second part exhibited modern China and its dream of harmony between the people of the world. The stadium was full to its 91,000 capacity according to organizers.
During the Parade of Nations at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, held beginning at 6:00 PM PST on February 12, 2010, 82 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into BC Place Stadium in the host city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Dominica participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation in London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two athletes: Erison Hurtault and Luan Gabriel, the former qualified for the Games by meeting qualification standards while the latter entered the quadrennial event through a wildcard place. Hurtault was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony while Gabriel carried the flag at the closing ceremony. Neither athlete progressed farther than the first round of their respective events.
Tonga participated in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from August 29 to September 9, 2012. Their participation marked their fourth consecutive Summer Paralympics appearance since their début at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. Tonga was represented by the Tonga National Paralympic Committee, and was one of the 45 participating countries that sent only a single athlete. Tonga has always sent only a single athlete from Sydney 2000 to London 2012. Tonga National Paralympic Committee sent a delegation of three people, including one athlete. The sole athlete to represent the nation was ʻAloʻalo Liku, who participated in javelin and discus throw. Liku was the country's flag-bearer during the Games' opening ceremony. Tonga did not win a medal at these Games, however Liku finished with seasonal bests in both the events.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations of the 2012 London Olympics, athletes and officials from each participating country paraded into the Olympic Stadium preceded by their national flag to the sound of iconic British modern music. Each flag bearer was chosen by each nation's National Olympic Committee or by the delegation of athletes.
During the Parade of Nations within the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating team marched in the Maracanã Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the team's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves.
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 within the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, which took place on 23 July 2021, athletes and officials from each participating team entered the Olympic Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer will have been chosen either by the team's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. For the first time, each team had the option to allow two flag bearers, one male and one female, in an effort to promote gender equality. These Olympics were postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of athletes who paraded at this opening ceremony was much smaller than normal because of the new "2-week, 2-wave" system. First used at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, the athletes who competed in the first week marched at the opening ceremony, while those scheduled for the second week paraded at the closing ceremony.
During the Parade of Nations at the 2019 Pan American Games opening ceremony, on July 26, 2019, 41 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into Estadio Nacional in the host city of Lima, Peru
Andorra competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.
During the Parade of Nations within the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on February 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.
The Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan", competed as Chinese Taipei at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China from 4 to 20 February 2022. Because of the political status of Taiwan and the One-China policy, the ROC national symbols will not be used as stipulated in the Nagoya Resolution in 1979 forcing the ROC athletes to compete under the Chinese Taipei moniker since 1984.
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.
Main reference: "List of flagbearers Bejing (sic) 2008" (PDF). olympic.org. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
 Olympic Games national flag bearers by year | |
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| Winter Youth Olympics | |
