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. [1] 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.
This was the first edition in which the new protocols approved at the 138th Session of the International Olympic Committee held days before the ceremony were used officially. Some rules were maintained from previous procedures, such as the obligation for the Greek delegation to be the first to enter during the Parade of Nations and the maintenance of the entry of other delegations in the alphabetical order of the organizing country were maintained as the same entering as the last team. However, others were changed, such as the entry of IOC Refugee Olympic Team, composed of refugees from several countries immediately behind the Greek team. [2] Another change was the positioning of the teams whose countries will be the future hosts of the next Summer Olympic Games, which entered the reverse sequence. According to the original planning, the United States would be the 5th delegation to enter placed between Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates delegations, but as the 2028 Summer Olympics are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles, they were placed as 204th delegation. This situation also happened with France which according to the protocol manual would be the 151st delegation, positioned between Brazil and Bulgaria, but due to the fact that Paris will be the host city of the 2024 Summer Olympics who entered as the 205th delegation before the host nation Japan. [3]
As these protocol rules were approved before Brisbane was announced as the 2032 Summer Olympics host, Australia was not allocated to enter before the United States team and instead entered in its natural position in the Japanese language order between El Salvador and Austria. Zimbabwe, which has usually been the penultimate nation, was positioned between Singapore and Switzerland, appearing in the middle of the parade. All other teams entered in between in Gojūon order, based on the names of countries in Japanese. [4] [5] The names of the teams were announced in French, English, and Japanese, the official languages of the Olympic movement and the host nation, in accordance with Olympic Charter and International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines.
The Republic of North Macedonia had previously competed under the provisional name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, because of the disputed status of its official name. It was officially renamed to North Macedonia in February 2019 and the Olympic Committee of North Macedonia (NMOC) was officially adopted in February 2020. It was North Macedonia's first appearance at the Summer Olympics under its new name North Macedonia (北マケドニア Kita Makedonia). [6]
Several of the nations marched under their formal Japanese names. For example, the Great Britain delegation marched under the formal name Eikoku ("United Kingdom") [7] rather than the better known informal Igirisu (イギリス), and China's delegation marched under Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku ("People's Republic of China") instead of the more common Chūgoku (中国).
On 6 April 2021, North Korea announced that it would not participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics because of COVID-19 concerns. This marked North Korea's first absence from the Summer Olympics since 1988. North Korea (朝鮮民主主義人民共和国Chōsen Minshushugi Jinmin Kyōwakoku, "Democratic People's Republic of Korea") would have marched between Tunisia and Chile. [8]
On 4 March 2020, the IOC announced that each team can have the option to allow two flag bearers, one male and one female, in an effort to promote gender equality, after had been trialed in the 1980 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. [1]
Below is a list of parading teams and their announced flag bearer(s), in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by team name, flag bearer's name, and flag bearer's sport. This was the first time the Parade of Nations was conducted in Japanese order.
Multiple Taiwanese media outlets, as well as Japanese lawmaker Akihisa Nagashima, reported that the Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) delegation had been specially ordered within the parade so that they would march under タta for either "Taiwan" or ambiguously "Chinese Taipei" rather than チchi or チャイchai for "Chinese Taipei". [155] [156] However, it would have done this regardless of special ordering, as Chinese Taipei has paraded under "T" or its equivalent in every Parade of Nations language other than Chinese (including, for example, PyeongChang 2018 and Seoul 1988).
NHK, the opening ceremony's official Japanese broadcaster, also specially commented "It's Taiwan!" (台湾です!Taiwan desu!) after the stadium announcers finished announcing the name "Chinese Taipei", which also received attention from Taiwanese media. [157] [158]
Musical pieces for the Parade of Nations were selected from several video game soundtracks created in Japan. These selections included themes from Square Enix's Dragon Quest , Final Fantasy , SaGa , Nier , and Chrono Trigger , Disney's Kingdom Hearts , Bandai Namco's Tales series, Soulcalibur , and Ace Combat , Capcom's Monster Hunter , Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer and Gradius , and Sega Sammy's Sonic the Hedgehog and Phantasy Star . [159] [160]
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.
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.
Juan Ignacio Maegli Agüero is a Guatemalan sailor who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the Laser class event where he finished 33rd and 9th respectively. He was the flag bearer for Guatemala during the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
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.
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 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 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony, beginning at 19:00 WIB (UTC+7) on 18 August 2018, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the co-host city of Jakarta, Indonesia, preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. In keeping with tradition, the host nation, Indonesia entered last. 44 teams marched in.
Nauru competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's participation in Tokyo marked its seventh appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1996.
During the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games, athletes from each participating country paraded in the Japan National Stadium, preceded by its flag and placard carrier. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Paralympic Committee (NPC) or by the athletes themselves.
During the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the flag bearers for the 205 National Olympic Committee's (NOCs) and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team entered the Olympic Stadium. The flags of each country were not necessarily carried by the same flag bearer as in the opening ceremony. Due to COVID-19 related protocols, athletes had to leave Japan within 48 hours from completion of their final event, leaving some countries without representation during the closing ceremony. Flags of the countries without athletes present were instead carried by volunteers.
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.
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 20. 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.
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.
During the Parade of Nations at the 2023 Pan American Games opening ceremony, on October 20, 2023, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into National stadium in the host city of Santiago, Chile.
Tajikistan's flagbearer Tafur Rakhimov was among those not wearing masks during the Opening Ceremony at Tokyo.
ကြင္းထဲဝင္ေရာက္လာတဲ့ Myanmar ဆိုတဲ့ ဆိုင္းဘုတ္အေနာက္မွာ ျမန္မာျပည္အလံသာ ရွိၿပီး တိုက်ိဳအိုလံပစ္ ဝင္ေရာက္ယွဥ္ၿပိဳင္တဲ့ ျမန္မာကစားသမား တစ္ဦးမွ လိုက္ပါလာျခင္း မရွိပါဘူး။