2026 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations

During the Parade of Nations within the Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country marched in the San Siro Stadium 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.

Parade order

By tradition, Greece entered first as the originator of the Olympics, ^[1] and Italy entered last as host. Per a new rule introduced by the International Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics, ^[2] the United States was antepenultimate as the host of the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, France was penultimate as the host of the 2030 Winter Olympics in French Alps, and host nation Italy entered last. All nations in between entered in the order of the host nation's language, Italian language.

Participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes

Main article: Individual Neutral Athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics

The potential participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes has remained controversial amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended sports federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from participating in international tournaments, citing the violation of the Olympic Truce.

In July 2023, the IOC stated that while Russia and Belarus would not be formally invited, their athletes would be allowed to compete as neutrals in a similar manner to Wimbledon after it reversed its ban of Russians and Belarusians that year. This was confirmed by the IOC in December 2023, with Russian and Belarusian athletes allowed to compete as neutrals without anthems or flags for the 2024 Summer Olympics. ^[3] As individual athletes, the delegation did not take part in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony. A similar decision is expected to be made for the 2026 Winter Olympics. ^[4]

List

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 Italian names follow their official designations by the Milano Cortina Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

This table is sortable by country name in English, country name in Italian, flag bearer name, and flag bearer sport.

Order	Nation	Italian	Flag bearer	Sport	Ref.
1	Greece	Grecia
2	Albania	Albania
3	Andorra	Andorra
4	Saudi Arabia	Arabia Saudita
5	Argentina	Argentina
6	Armenia	Armenia
7	Australia	Australia
8	Austria	Austria
9	Azerbaijan	Azerbaigian
10	Belgium	Belgio
11	Benin	Benin
12	Bolivia	Bolivia
13	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia ed Erzegovina
14	Brazil	Brasile
15	Bulgaria	Bulgaria
16	Canada	Canada
17	Czech Republic	Cechia
18	Chile	Cile
19	China	Repubblica Popolare Cinese
20	Cyprus	Cipro
21	Colombia	Colombia
22	South Korea	Repubblica di Corea
23	Croatia	Croazia
24	Denmark	Danimarca
25	Ecuador	Ecuador
26	United Arab Emirates	Emirati Arabi Uniti
27	Eritrea	Eritrea
28	Estonia	Estonia
29	Philippines	Filippine
30	Finland	Finlandia
31	Georgia	Georgia
32	Germany	Germania
33	Jamaica	Giamaica
34	Japan	Giappone
35	Great Britain	Gran Bretagna
36	Guinea-Bissau	Guinea-Bissau
37	Haiti	Haiti
38	Hong Kong	Hong Kong, Cina
39	India	India
40	Iran	Repubblica Islamica dell'Iran
41	Ireland	Irlanda
42	Iceland	Islanda
43	Israel	Israele
44	Kazakhstan	Kazakistan
45	Kenya	Kenya
46	Kyrgyzstan	Kirghizistan
47	Kosovo	Kosovo
48	Latvia	Lettonia
49	Lebanon	Libano
50	Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein
51	Lithuania	Lituania
52	Luxembourg	Lussemburgo
53	North Macedonia	Macedonia del Nord
54	Madagascar	Madagascar
55	Malaysia	Malaysia
56	Malta	Malta
57	Morocco	Marocco
58	Mexico	Messico
59	Moldova	Repubblica di Moldavia
60	Monaco	Monaco
61	Mongolia	Mongolia
62	Montenegro	Montenegro
63	Nigeria	Nigeria
64	Norway	Norvegia
65	New Zealand	Nuova Zelanda
66	Netherlands	Paesi Bassi
67	Poland	Polonia
68	Portugal	Portogallo
69	Romania	Romania
70	San Marino	San Marino
71	Serbia	Serbia
72	Singapore	Singapore
73	Slovakia	Slovacchia
74	Slovenia	Slovenia
75	Spain	Spagna
76	South Africa	Sudafrica
77	Sweden	Svezia
78	Switzerland	Svizzera
79	Chinese Taipei	Taipei Cinese
80	Thailand	Thailandia
81	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad e Tobago
82	Turkey	Türkiye
83	Ukraine	Ucraina
84	Hungary	Ungheria
85	Uruguay	Uruguay
86	Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan
87	Venezuela	Venezuela
88	United States	Stati Uniti d'America
89	France	Francia
90	Italy	Italia	Federico Pellegrino (Milan) / Amos Mosaner (Cortina d'Ampezzo)	Cross-country skiing / Curling	[5]
			Arianna Fontana (Milan) / Federica Brignone (Cortina d'Ampezzo)	Short-track speed skating / Alpine skiing

Notes

References

1. Gaines, Cork; Davis, Scott (9 February 2018). "Why Greece always leads the parade of athletes at the Olympic opening ceremony and how the rest of the order is determined". Business Insider . New York City, New York, U.S. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
2. "Future Olympic hosts to gain prominence in athletes' parades". www.olympics.com/. International Olympic Committee. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
3. "Paris 2024 Olympics: Russian and Belarusian athletes allowed to compete as neutrals". BBC Sport. 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
4. AIN Eligibility Review Panel established by IOC EB – Paris Games-time protocol elements agreed on
5. "Italy's 4 flag bearers for Milan Cortina Winter Olympics honored in handover ceremony". AP News. 22 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.