During the Parade of Nations section of the 1972 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.

Parade order

As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation West Germany marched last, according with tradition and IOC guidelines. Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in the host country's language, German, by actor and television personality Joachim Fuchsberger[1] and music during the parade of nations is composed by Kurt Edelhagen.[2]

Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under acronym or alternative names, mostly due to political and naming disputes. The People's Republic of the Congo entered as Congo (Kongo instead of Volksrepublik Kongo), South Korea (Republic of Korea) entered as Korea instead of Republik Korea, Taiwan (Republic of China) entered as Republik China, and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) entered as Vietnam. Acronyms used during the ceremony like East Germany (German Democratic Republic), North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) entered respectively as DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), DVR Korea (Demokratische Volksrepublik Korea) and UdSSR (Union der Sozialistischen Sowjeterepubliken), United States in other hand entered the same as English, USA instead of its full German name Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika, and host nation West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) entered as Germany (Deutschland instead of Bundesrepublik Deutschland or its acronym BRD) to avoid with the two Germanies.

121 nations entered the stadium with a combined total of 7,134 athletes. Eleven nations made their Olympic debut, namely Albania, Dahomey (now Benin), Gabon, North Korea, Lesotho, Malawi, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Swaziland, Togo, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). Rhodesia's invitation to take part in the 1972 Summer Games was withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee four days before the opening ceremony, in response to African countries' (such as Ethiopia and Kenya) protests against the Rhodesian government. (Rhodesia did, however, compete in the 1972 Summer Paralympics, held a little earlier in Heidelberg.) Rhodesian athletes would have been marched between Republic of China and Romania.[3][4]

List

The following is a list of each country's announced flag bearer. The list is sorted by the order in which each nation appears in the parade of nations. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC.

This table is sortable by country name (in German), the flag bearer's name, and the flag bearer's sport.

Order Nation German Flag bearer Sport
1 Greece (GRE)GriechenlandKhristos PapanikolaouAthletics
2 Egypt (EGY)ÄgyptenKamal Kamel El-GuamelBasketball
3 Ethiopia (ETH)ÄthiopienMamo WoldeAthletics
4 Afghanistan (AFG)AfghanistanGhulam DastagirWrestling
5 Albania (ALB)AlbanienAfërdita TushaShooting
6 Algeria (ALG)AlgerienAzzedine AzzouziAthletics
7 Argentina (ARG)ArgentinienCarlos Cesar DeliaEquestrian
8 Australia (AUS)AustralienDennis GreenCanoeing
9 Bahamas (BAH)BahamasMike SandsAthletics
10 Barbados (BAR)BarbadosAnthony PhillipsWeightlifting
11 Belgium (BEL)BelgienGaston RoelantsAthletics
12 Bermuda (BER)BermudaKirk CooperSailing
13 Bolivia (BOL)BolivienRoberto Nielsen-ReyesEquestrian
14 Brazil (BRA)BrasilienLuiz Cláudio MenonBasketball
15 British Honduras (HBR)Britisch HondurasGilmore HinksenOfficial
16 Bulgaria (BUL)BulgarienDimitar ZlatanovVolleyball
17 Burma (BIR)BurmaWin MaungFootball
18 Chile (CHI)ChileRené VarasEquestrian
19 Costa Rica (CRC)Costa RicaHugo ChamberlainShooting
20 Denmark (DEN)DänemarkPeder PedersenCycling
21 Dahomey (DAH)DahomeyIbrahima IdrissouAthletics
22 German Democratic Republic (GDR)DDR[n 1]Manfred WolkeBoxing
23 Dominican Republic (DOM)Dominikanische RepublikEmilio BerroaWeightlifting
24 Democratic People's Republic of Korea (PRK)DVR Korea[n 2]Kim Man-dokOfficial
25 Ecuador (ECU)EcuadorAbdalá BucaramAthletics
26 Ivory Coast (CIV)ElfenbeinküsteSimbara MakiAthletics
27 El Salvador (ESA)El SalvadorSalvador VilanovaSwimming
28 Fiji (FIJ)FidschiUsaia SotutuAthletics
29 Finland (FIN)FinnlandIlkka NummistoCanoeing
30 France (FRA)FrankreichJean-Claude MagnanFencing
31 Gabon (GAB)GabunMatias MoussobouOfficial
32 Ghana (GHA)GhanaSam BugriAthletics
33 Great Britain (GBR)GroßbritannienDavid BroomeEquestrian
34 Guatemala (GUA)GuatemalaVíctor CastellanosShooting
35 Guyana (GUY)GuyanaGordon SankisOfficial
36 Haiti (HAI)HaitiJules MelinerOfficial
37 Hong Kong (HKG)Hong KongPeter Rull Sr.Shooting
38 India (IND)IndienD. N. Devine JonesFootball (official)
39 Indonesia (INA)IndonesienWiem GommiesBoxing
40 Iran (IRI)IranAbdollah MovahedWrestling
41 Ireland (IRL)IrlandRonnie McMahonEquestrian
42 Iceland (ISL)IslandGeir HallsteinssonHandball
43 Israel (ISR)IsraelHenry HershkowitzShooting
44 Italy (ITA)ItalienAbdon PamichAthletics
45 Jamaica (JAM)JamaikaLennox MillerAthletics
46 Japan (JPN)JapanMasatoshi ShinomakiJudo
47 Yugoslavia (YUG)JugoslawienMirko SandićWater polo
48 Virgin Islands (ISV)JungferninselnWilliam PeetsBoxing
49 Khmer Republic (KHM)KambodschaChaing ChengBoxing (official)
50 Cameroon (CMR)KamerunGaston MalamAthletics
51 Canada (CAN)KanadaDouglas RogersJudo
52 Kenya (KEN)KeniaKipchoge KeinoAthletics
53 Colombia (COL)KolumbienAlfonso PérezBoxing
54 Republic of the Congo (CGO)KongoAlphonse MandondaAthletics
55 Republic of Korea (KOR)KoreaKim Ji-hakOfficial
56 Cuba (CUB)KubaTeófilo StevensonBoxing
57 Kuwait (KUW)KuwaitYounis AbdallahAthletics
58 Lesotho (LES)LesothoMotsapi MoorosiAthletics
59 Lebanon (LIB)LibanonMohamed TarabulsiWeightlifting
60 Liberia (LBR)LiberiaThomas HoweAthletics
61 Liechtenstein (LIE)LiechtensteinEduard von Falz-FeinNon-competitor
62 Luxembourg (LUX)LuxemburgCharles SowaAthletics
63 Madagascar (MAD)MadagaskarJean-Aimé RandrianalijaonaAthletics
64 Malawi (MAW)MalawiMartin MatupiAthletics
65 Malaysia (MAS)MalaysiaAli BakarFootball
66 Mali (MLI)MaliNamakoro NiaréAthletics
67 Malta (MLT)MaltaJoseph GrechShooting
68 Morocco (MAR)MarokkoMoustafa BelhmiraJudo
69 Mexico (MEX)MexikoFelipe MuñozSwimming
70 Monaco (MON)MonacoJean-Charles SenecaFencing
71 Mongolia (MGL)MongoleiBazarragchaagiin JamsranWrestling
72 Nepal (NEP)NepalJit Bahadur Khatri ChhetriAthletics
73 New Zealand (NZL)NeuseelandLes MillsAthletics
74 Nicaragua (NCA)NicaraguaDon VélezAthletics
75 Netherlands (NED)NiederlandeNico SpitsField hockey
76 Netherlands Antilles (AHO)Niederländische AntillenBèto AdrianaShooting
77 Niger (NIG)NigerIssaka DaboreBoxing
78 Nigeria (NGR)NigeriaBenedict MajekodunmiAthletics
79 Norway (NOR)NorwegenHarald BarlieWrestling
80 Upper Volta (VOL)ObervoltaAndré BicabaAthletics
81 Austria (AUT)ÖsterreichHubert RaudaschlSailing
82 Pakistan (PAK)PakistanMohammad Malik ArshadWeightlifting
83 Panama (PAN)PanamaDonaldo ArzaBoxing
84 Paraguay (PAR)ParaguayArnulfo BeckerShooting
85 Peru (PER)PeruEnrique BarúaFencing
86 Philippines (PHI)PhilippinenJimmy MarianoBasketball
87 Poland (POL)PolenWaldemar BaszanowskiWeightlifting
88 Portugal (POR)PortugalArmando AldegalegaAthletics
89 Puerto Rico (PUR)Puerto RicoArnaldo BristolAthletics
90 Republic of China (ROC)Republik ChinaChi ChengAthletics
91 Romania (ROM)RumänienAurel VernescuCanoeing
92 Zambia (ZAM)SambiaJulius LuipaBoxing
93 San Marino (SMR)San MarinoItalo CasaliShooting
94 Saudi Arabia (KSA)Saudi-ArabienBilal Said Al-AzmaAthletics
95 Sweden (SWE)SchwedenJan JönssonEquestrian
96 Switzerland (SUI)SchweizUrs von WartburgAthletics
97 Senegal (SEN)SenegalRobert N'DiayeWrestling
98 Singapore (SIN)SingapurPat ChanSwimming
99 Somalia (SOM)SomaliaMohamed AbokerAthletics
100 Spain (ESP)SpanienFrancisco Fernández OchoaNon-competitor
101 Ceylon (CEY)Sri Lanka (Ceylon)Lucien RosaAthletics
102 Sudan (SUD)SudanAbdel Wahab Abdullah SalihBoxing
103 Suriname (SUR)SurinamSammy MonselsAthletics
104 Swaziland (SWZ)SwasilandRichard MabuzaAthletics
105 Syria (SYR)SyrienMounzer KhatibShooting
106 Tanzania (TAN)TansaniaClaver KamanyaAthletics
107 Thailand (THA)ThailandRangsit YanothaiShooting
108 Togo (TOG)TogoRoger KangniAthletics
109 Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)Trinidad und TobagoHasely CrawfordAthletics
110 Chad (CHA)TschadAhmed SenoussiAthletics
111 Czechoslovakia (TCH)TschechoslowakeiLudvík DaněkAthletics
112 Turkey (TUR)TürkeiGıyasettin YılmazWrestling
113 Tunisia (TUN)TunesienSalem BoughattasAthletics
114 Soviet Union (URS)UdSSR[n 3]Aleksandr MedvedWrestling
115 Uganda (UGA)UgandaJohn Akii-BuaAthletics
116 Hungary (HUN)UngarnGergely KulcsárAthletics
117 Uruguay (URU)UruguayDarwin PiñeyrúaAthletics
118 United States of America (USA)USA[n 4]Olga FikotováAthletics
119 Venezuela (VEN)VenezuelaFrancisco RodríguezBoxing
120 Vietnam (VIE)VietnamHồ Minh ThuArchery
121 Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)DeutschlandDetlef LeweCanoeing
Notes
  1. DDR – Deutsche Demokratische Republik
  2. DVRK – Demokratische Volksrepublik Korea
  3. UdSSR - Union der Sozialistischen Sowjetrepubliken
  4. USA (frequent acronym in German) - in full as Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika

References

  1. XX. Olympics 1972 Munich – Parade of Nations // Olympische Spiele 1972 München – Einzug der Nationen (YouTube). MainesOwn. 6 February 2021.
  2. "Technical Manual on Ceremonies" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. November 2005. p. 40. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  3. "1972: Rhodesia out of Olympics". BBC News. 22 August 1972. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  4. Radwanski, George (23 August 1972). "Olympics: Rhodesia expelled". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
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