"2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations portion of the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country paraded in the Olympic Stadium preceded by their flag. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. The teams walked to the sound of iconic British modern music. Greece was entered first, as the nation of the ancient and first modern Olympic Games. The host nation Great Britain (as the United Kingdom is known at the Games) marched last. Other countries entered in"
"2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations During the 2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations at the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, beginning at 20:00 KST () 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 (91 nations and Olympic Athletes from Russia). Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by Olympic tradition. As the originator of the Olympics, the Greek team entered first. Other teams entered in alphabetical order based on"
"1988 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation South Korea marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (Korean), according with tradition"
"some of his classmates during the earthquake. Each country's delegation is led by a sign with the name of their country and by their nation's flag. Traditionally, Greece always enters first and leads the parade because of its historical status as the progenitor of the Olympics, and the host nation enters last. All other participating teams enter after Greece and before the host nation, in order according to a language selected by the organizing committee for those games, which is usually the dominant language in the area of the host city. Announcers announce each country's name in English, French and"
"from the Games. Egypt was the only exception because they had decided not to march at the opening ceremony. 1976 Summer Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in French, the main language of Quebec province of Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as"
"2014 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, held beginning at 20:14 MST () on 7 February 2014, 88 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into the Fisht Olympic Stadium in the host city of Sochi, Russia. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. As the originator of the Olympics, Greece entered first. The Russian team entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first in French, followed by English and finally Russian,"
"the beginning of the ceremony proper. The national flag of China was then raised, in accordance with usual protocol, and the national anthem of China performed. Performers wearing suits in bright colours paraded round the stadium, as a welcoming ceremony preceding the athletes' entry. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, the ceremony included a parade of nations, with a flag bearer for each national team. Contrary to Olympic tradition, the national team of Greece did not enter first, as the Paralympic Games traces its roots to Stoke Mandeville rather than Olympia; the host country, as is customary in both Olympic"
"with Greece first, the rest of the nations proceeding by Norwegian alphabetical order, with the host nation last. The British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand teams all wore black arm bands at the opening ceremonies in memory of their monarch. After the parade of nations the Olympic flame was lit. On 13 February, at the start of the inaugural Winter Olympics torch relay, the torch was lit in the hearth of the Morgedal House, birthplace of skiing pioneer Sondre Norheim. The torch relay lasted two days and took place entirely on skis. At the opening ceremonies the final torch bearer,"
"Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in Greek, French, and English (the official languages of the Olympics) with the music, performed and played by Dutch musician Tiësto, accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium. Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: Three-time Grand Slam champion and tennis player Roger Federer (Switzerland), NBA basketball player Yao Ming (People's Republic of China), six-time Olympians and Star sailors Colin Beashel (Australia) and Torben Grael (Brazil), triple Olympic weightlifting champion Pyrros Dimas (Greece), show jumper Ludger Beerbaum (Germany), two-time Olympic sprint freestyle"
"2010 Winter Olympics national flag bearers 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. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. As the originator of the Olympics, Greece entered first. Canadian delegates entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first in French and followed by English, the official"
"2000 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation of Australia marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (English), according with tradition"
"also the ""Independent Olympic Athletes"") was led, according to custom, by the Greek team, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order, and finally the host nation Great Britain. Each of the 205 teams entered the stadium led by their flagbearer, accompanied by a child volunteer carrying a copper petal (later revealed to be part of the cauldron) and a young woman carrying a sign with the country's name in English (and wearing a dress made from fabric printed with photos of people who had applied to be Olympic volunteers). The parade was accompanied by mainly British dance tracks and"
"the flag bearer's sport. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC. 1992 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation Spain marched last. Other countries entered"
"bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name, or flag bearer's sport. 2017 Asian Winter Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2017 Asian Winter Games opening ceremony, held on 19 February 2017, 30 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into the Sapporo Dome in the host city of Sapporo, Japan. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. The Japanese team entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first"
"1998 Winter Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena. The flag from each team was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. Unlike the usual practice, the parade of nations was organized according to the English alphabet instead of host nation's language, Japanese. Greece led the parade, followed by Andorra. Had the parade followed the Japanese characters, Greece would have been followed"
"1992 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation Spain marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the French language, instead of both Catalan and Spanish (despite that"
"days, in the Olympic Stadium, and are thus the last medal presentation of the Games. In contrast to the opening ceremonies, many elements of the Olympic closing ceremonies gradually developed more by tradition than official mandate. Like the opening ceremonies, the closing ceremonies begins with the raising of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. The traditional part of the closing ceremonies starts with the ""Parade of Flags"", where flag bearers from each participating country enter the stadium in single file, with the Greek flag in the lead (honoring the birthplace of the Olympic Games) and"
"1996 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation of the United States marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (English), according"
"1988 Winter Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1988 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in English, one of the official languages in Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as the host nation. Organizers played Happy Birthday to You during Australian team march as a homage to Australia which was"
"2004 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. The national team of Greece, as the host nation, entered the stadium last, breaking the tradition that the Greek national team enter first in every Olympic opening ceremony as a tribute for being the original host of both the"
"2017 Asian Winter Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2017 Asian Winter Games opening ceremony, held on 19 February 2017, 30 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into the Sapporo Dome in the host city of Sapporo, Japan. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. The Japanese team entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first in Japanese and then English. The latter being the official language of the Olympic Council of Asia and the former being"
"1964 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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"
"and the flag bearer's sport. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC. 1984 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation of the United States marched"
"1994 Winter Olympics national flag bearers 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 Norwegian alphabet. As usual, Greece leads the parade, followed by American Samoa. Mongolia didn't march in the parade, but"
"Also recognized was the symbolic unified march of athletes from North Korea and South Korea under the Korean Unification Flag. The country of Kiribati made a debut at these games and East Timor made a debut under its own flag. After the Parade of Nations, during which the Dutch DJ Tiësto provided the music, the Icelandic singer Björk performed the song Oceania, written specially for the event by her and the poet Sjón. The Opening Ceremony culminated in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron by 1996 Gold Medalist Windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. Many key moments in the ceremony, including the lighting"
"celebrating Bicentenary event at that time. 1988 Winter Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1988 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in English, one of the official languages in Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as the host nation. Organizers played Happy Birthday to You during Australian team march as"
"1984 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation of the United States marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (English), according"
"penultimate country before Japan. 1964 Summer Olympics national flag bearers 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"
"television audiences were shown a version that had been recorded the previous December. During the opening ceremony the organizing committee was a victim of a cyber attack, but without major consequences. The Parade of Nations was led, according to custom due to hosting the original ancient Olympics, by the Greek team, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order based on their names in the Korean language, with the host country, South Korea, concluding the march. The delegations from both the host nation South Korea and North Korea (Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics) marched under the Korean unification flag."
"since Greece was the host nation, they went last, sending only their flag with the weightlifter Pyrros Dimas as the flag bearer into the stadium at the beginning of the parade, and the athletes themselves at the end of it. The debut position was given to Saint Lucia (Αγία Λουκία in Greek), who led the Parade of Nations into the stadium. As the nations entered in Greek alphabetical order, Zimbabwe—which has usually been the penultimate nation, followed only by the host country—appeared in the middle of the parade. Countries such as the United States and Switzerland, which are usually at"
"1976 Summer Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in French, the main language of Quebec province of Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as the host nation. Because of 1976 Summer Olympics boycott, some African countries which marched at the parade later withdrew"
"were arranged according to Greek alphabet making Finland, Fiji, Chile, and Hong Kong the last four to enter the stadium before the Greek delegation. On this occasion, in observance of the tradition that the delegation of Greece opens the parade and the host nation closes it, the Greek flag bearer opened the parade and all the Greek delegation closed it. Based on audience reaction, the emotional high point of the parade was the entrance of the delegation from Afghanistan which had been absent from the Olympics and had female competitors for the first time. The Iraqi delegation also stirred emotions."
"famous for promoting Olympic values, including Muhammad Ali as a symbolic flag-bearer. The flag bearers of all countries then circle a rostrum, where one athlete of the host nation (since the 1920 Summer Olympics), and one judge of the host nation (since the 1972 Summer Olympics) speak the Olympic Oath, declaring they will compete and judge according to the rules of their respective sport. Since the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, continuing with the tradition started at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics a coach from the host nation speaks out the Olympic Oath. For the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang,"