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.
By tradition and IOC guidelines, Greece entered first, as the nation of origin of the ancient and the host of the 1896 Summer Olympics modern Olympic Games. The host nation Great Britain (as the United Kingdom is recognized at the Games) brought up the end of the procession. The other nations followed Greece in alphabetical order by name in the language of the host country (English) except for a few instances. [1] As each national delegation entered accompanied by music, the national name was announced in French and English (the official languages of the Olympics).
National name exceptions included shortened, more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political or naming disputes. The then called Republic of Macedonia entered using part of its UN recognized name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" because of the naming dispute with Greece. [2] The Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) entered with the compromised name and flag of "Chinese Taipei" under T so that they did not enter together with conflicting People's Republic of China (commonly known as China), which entered as the "People's Republic of China" under C. The Republic of the Congo entered as just "Congo" while the Democratic Republic of the Congo entered with its full name. Similarly South Korea entered as "Republic of Korea" under K while North Korea entered as "Democratic People's Republic of Korea". The British Virgin Islands entered under B while the United States Virgin Islands entered as simply the "Virgin Islands", under V. Iran, Micronesia, Moldova, Laos, Brunei and the United States all entered under their formal names, respectively "Islamic Republic of Iran", "Federated States of Micronesia", "Republic of Moldova", "Lao People's Democratic Republic", "Brunei Darussalam" and "United States of America". For the first time in many years, Libyan athletes marched as "Libya", and not "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" as Libya was known during the reign of Muammar Gaddafi.
Each delegation was led by a flagbearer (listed below), accompanied by a child volunteer carrying a copper petal (camera-left) and a young lady carrying a sign with the country's English name (camera-right). The copper petal was engraved with the name of the nation and would later be used to build the cauldron for the Olympic flame. [3] The volunteer carrying the sign wore a dress constructed with fabric imprinted with images of Olympic volunteers, including those who had not been chosen. [4] Each nation's flag was planted as it arrived at the model of Glastonbury Tor.
Netherlands Antilles was ineligible to participate independently in the parade, as its National Olympic Committee was unrecognized by the IOC due to the 2010 dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. Team Dutch Antilleans paraded by default under the Olympic flag, [5] together with a South Sudanese runner whose newly independent country did not yet have an Olympic committee. [6]
Notable were the debut female Olympic athletes from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei. [7]
The Team India entered the stadium jointly led by a woman dressed in a red top and blue trousers, who was not part of its team. In India this incident received media attention, but London officials downplayed concerns saying that she was Madhura Nagendra, a volunteer who had been security screened. [8] Some media outlets later identified her as Madhura Honey, a graduate of Communications and Media Studies from Christ College in Bangalore. [9] [10] [11] The Indian team's acting chef-de-mission Muralidharan Raja filed a protest with organisers. [11]
Below is a list of parading countries and their announced flag bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name, or flag bearer's sport. Names are given in the form officially designated by the IOC.
Cuba competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's nineteenth appearance in the Olympics. With baseball's removal from the Olympic program and the absence of the nation's volleyball team for the first time, the Cuban Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1964. A total of 111 athletes, 66 men and 45 women, competed in 13 sports. There was only a single competitor in archery and table tennis.
Panama competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Olympics since its debut in 1920. Panama did not compete on four occasions, including the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, because of its partial support of the United States boycott.
Peru competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's seventeenth appearance at the Olympics, having only missed the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
During the Parade of Nations at the 2011 Pan American Games opening ceremony, held beginning at 18:00 CDT on October 14, 2011, 42 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into Omnilife Stadium in the host city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Senegal competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Olympics.
Chad competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This marked the nation's eleventh appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Chadian delegation included track and field athlete Hinikissia Ndikert and judoka Carine Ngarlemdana. Ngarlemdana was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony and Ndikert was the flag bearer for the closing ceremony. Neither of Chad's athletes progressed beyond the first round of their events. Chad was one of only two countries to have a female-only team at the 2012 games.
Mozambique competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's ninth consecutive appearance at the Olympics. In the weeks before the Games, Mozambique athletes trained at Comberton Village College in Cambridge.
Costa Rica competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, having skipped four editions of the Summer Games since the nation's Olympic debut in 1936.
Honduras competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's tenth appearance at the Olympics, excluding the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, because of the American-led boycott.
HortenseDiédhiou is a Senegalese judoka. She participated in three Olympic games: 2004 in the -52kg event, 2008 at -52kg and 2012 at -57kg. She was the flag bearer of Senegal at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. At the 2004 Olympics, she met Frédérique Jossinet who invited her to train in France. Following that recommendation Diédhiou moved to Provence and in 2011 to Paris.
2014 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations was part of the opening ceremony at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The national team from each nation participating in the Olympic Games was preceded by their national flag flag bearer into Fisht Olympic Stadium in the host city of Sochi, Russia. 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.
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 closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the flag bearers of 207 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) arrived into Maracanã Stadium. The flags of each country were not necessarily carried by the same flag bearer as in the opening ceremony.
Panama competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventeenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, since its debut in 1928.
The 2015 Pan American Games Parade of Nations occurred at the 2015 Pan American Games opening ceremony, held beginning at 18:45 Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) on July 10, 2015. 41 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into Pan Am Ceremonies Venue in the host city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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 and due security measures some countries prevented their athletes to participate on event.
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 led their national delegations as they paraded into Estadio Nacional in the host city of Lima, Peru
The Parade of Nations within the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony took place on 26 July 2024 on the Seine river in Paris, France. Athletes and officials from each participating team marched into the Jardins du Trocadéro preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer was chosen either by the team's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. On 13 December 2021, it was announced that the opening ceremony would feature athletes being transported by boat from Pont d'Austerlitz to Pont d'Iéna along the Seine river. The 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) route passed landmarks such as the Louvre, Notre-Dame de Paris, and Place de la Concorde, and feature cultural presentations. The official protocol took place at a 30,000-seat "mini-stadium" at the Trocadéro. For the first time in Olympic history, the parade procedure was not held during a separate portion of the opening ceremony, with the parade being integrated during the artistic programme, which simultaneously allowed for the athletes to sail on their boats during the artistic portion.
The delegations parade in alphabetical order according to the language of the host country, except for Greece, which leads the parade, and for the host country, which enters the stadium last.
Maria Sjarapova mag op 27 juli de Russische vlag dragen tijdens de openingsceremonie van de Olympische Spelen.
 Olympic Games national flag bearers by year | |
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| Summer Olympics | |
| Winter Olympics | |
| Intercalated Games | |
| Summer Youth Olympics | |
| Winter Youth Olympics | |
