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.
Parade order
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.
Macedonia entered as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'" because of the
naming dispute with Greece. 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
conflictingPeople'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.
Parade
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.[2] The volunteer carrying the sign wore a dress constructed with fabric imprinted with images of Olympic volunteers, including those who had not been chosen.[3] Each nation's flag was planted as it arrived at the model of
Glastonbury Tor.
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.[7] Some media outlets later identified her as Madhura Honey, a graduate of Communications and Media Studies from Christ College in
Bangalore.[8][9][10] The Indian team's acting chef-de-mission Muralidharan Raja filed a protest with organisers.[10]
Countries and flagbearers
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.
^Athletes from the now-
defunctNetherlands Antilles competed under the Olympic flag, as did an athlete from
South Sudan, which had not at the time formed an Olympic committee.
^As discussed above, the team was accompanied by a 'mystery' woman dressed in red.[78]
^Rafael Nadal was originally chosen, but had to withdraw reportedly due to injury.[139]
^Staff (November 2005).
"Technical Manual on Ceremonies"(PDF).
International Olympic Committee. p. 39_107.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2012. 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.
^205 teams were in the parade but only 204 petals were used in the cauldron: that of the Independent Olympic Athletes were not used in the cauldron.
^NBC, 2012 London Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies, airdate: 27 July 2012
^Staff (27 July 2012).
"Bolivianos listos en Londres" [Bolivian ready in London]. Opinion Bolivia (in Spanish).
Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
^Staff (17 July 2012).
"Latvijas karogu olimpiādes atklāšanā nesīs Pļaviņš" [Pļaviņš Will Carry the Latvian Flag at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies]. Sporta Centrs (in Latvian).
Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
^Staff (27 July 2012).
"Catching up with team Palau". Palau National Olympic Committee.
Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
^Staff (12 June 2012).
"Sjarapova draagt Russische vlag" [Sharapova Chosen as Russian Flag Bearer]. Sporza (in Dutch).
Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2012. Maria Sjarapova mag op 27 juli de Russische vlag dragen tijdens de openingsceremonie van de Olympische Spelen.
^Staff (20 July 2012).
"Bayrağı Neslihan taşıyacak" [Neslihan Carries the Flag]. TRT Spor (in Turkish). Archived from
the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
^Staff (16 June 2012).
"Kiếm thủ 9x Nguyễn Tiến Nhật cầm cờ Olympic" [Fencer Nguyễn Tiến Nhật Takes the Flag at the Olympics]. tin247.com (in Vietnamese).
Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
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.
Parade order
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.
Macedonia entered as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'" because of the
naming dispute with Greece. 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
conflictingPeople'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.
Parade
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.[2] The volunteer carrying the sign wore a dress constructed with fabric imprinted with images of Olympic volunteers, including those who had not been chosen.[3] Each nation's flag was planted as it arrived at the model of
Glastonbury Tor.
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.[7] Some media outlets later identified her as Madhura Honey, a graduate of Communications and Media Studies from Christ College in
Bangalore.[8][9][10] The Indian team's acting chef-de-mission Muralidharan Raja filed a protest with organisers.[10]
Countries and flagbearers
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.
^Athletes from the now-
defunctNetherlands Antilles competed under the Olympic flag, as did an athlete from
South Sudan, which had not at the time formed an Olympic committee.
^As discussed above, the team was accompanied by a 'mystery' woman dressed in red.[78]
^Rafael Nadal was originally chosen, but had to withdraw reportedly due to injury.[139]
^Staff (November 2005).
"Technical Manual on Ceremonies"(PDF).
International Olympic Committee. p. 39_107.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2012. 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.
^205 teams were in the parade but only 204 petals were used in the cauldron: that of the Independent Olympic Athletes were not used in the cauldron.
^NBC, 2012 London Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies, airdate: 27 July 2012
^Staff (27 July 2012).
"Bolivianos listos en Londres" [Bolivian ready in London]. Opinion Bolivia (in Spanish).
Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
^Staff (17 July 2012).
"Latvijas karogu olimpiādes atklāšanā nesīs Pļaviņš" [Pļaviņš Will Carry the Latvian Flag at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies]. Sporta Centrs (in Latvian).
Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
^Staff (27 July 2012).
"Catching up with team Palau". Palau National Olympic Committee.
Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
^Staff (12 June 2012).
"Sjarapova draagt Russische vlag" [Sharapova Chosen as Russian Flag Bearer]. Sporza (in Dutch).
Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2012. Maria Sjarapova mag op 27 juli de Russische vlag dragen tijdens de openingsceremonie van de Olympische Spelen.
^Staff (20 July 2012).
"Bayrağı Neslihan taşıyacak" [Neslihan Carries the Flag]. TRT Spor (in Turkish). Archived from
the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
^Staff (16 June 2012).
"Kiếm thủ 9x Nguyễn Tiến Nhật cầm cờ Olympic" [Fencer Nguyễn Tiến Nhật Takes the Flag at the Olympics]. tin247.com (in Vietnamese).
Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2012.