1972 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations

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 and music during the parade of nations is composed by Kurt Edelhagen.

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 Rhodesia's invitation to take part in the 1972 Summer Games was withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee four days before the opening ceremony, in response to African countries' (such as Ethiopia and Kenya) protests against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.

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. OrderNationGermanFlag bearerSport 1 Griechenland Khristos Papanikolaou Athletics 2 Ägypten Kamal Kamel El-Guamel Basketball 3 Äthiopien Mamo Wolde Athletics 4 Afghanistan Ghulam Dastagir Wrestling 5 Albanien Afërdita Tusha Shooting 6 Algerien Azzedine Azzouzi Athletics 7 Argentinien Carlos Cesar Delia Equestrian 8 Australien Dennis Green Canoeing 9 Bahamas Mike Sands Athletics 10 Barbados Anthony Phillips Weightlifting 11 Belgien Gaston Roelants Athletics 12 Bermuda Kirk Cooper Sailing 13 Bolivien Roberto Nielsen-Reyes Equestrian 14 Brasilien Luiz Cláudio Menon Basketball 15 Britisch Honduras Gilmore Hinksen Official 16 Bulgarien Dimitar Zlatanov Volleyball 17 Burma Win Maung Football 18 Chile René Varas Equestrian 19 Costa Rica Hugo Chamberlain Shooting 20 Dänemark Peder Pedersen Cycling 21 Dahomey Ibrahima Idrissou Athletics 22 DDR Manfred Wolke Boxing 23 Dominikanische Republik Emilio Berroa Weightlifting 24 DVR Korea Kim Man-dok Official 25 Ecuador Abdalá Bucaram Athletics 26 Elfenbeinküste Simbara Maki Athletics 27 El Salvador Salvador Vilanova Swimming 28 Fidschi Usaia Sotutu Athletics 29 Finnland Ilkka Nummisto Canoeing 30 Frankreich Jean-Claude Magnan Fencing 31 Gabun Matias Moussobou Official 32 Ghana Sam Bugri Athletics 33 Großbritannien David Broome Equestrian 34 Guatemala Víctor Castellanos Shooting 35 Guyana Gordon Sankis Official 36 Haiti Jules Meliner Official 37 Hong Kong Peter Rull Sr. Shooting 38 Indien D. N. Devine Jones Football (official) 39 Indonesien Wiem Gommies Boxing 40 Iran Abdollah Movahed Wrestling 41 Irland Ronnie McMahon Equestrian 42 Island Geir Hallsteinsson Handball 43 Israel Henry Hershkowitz Shooting 44 Italien Abdon Pamich Athletics 45 Jamaika Lennox Miller Athletics 46 Japan Masatoshi Shinomaki Judo 47 Jugoslawien Mirko Sandić Water polo 48 Jungferninseln William Peets Boxing 49 Kambodscha Chaing Cheng Boxing (official) 50 Kamerun Gaston Malam Athletics 51 Kanada Douglas Rogers Judo 52 Kenia Kipchoge Keino Athletics 53 Kolumbien Alfonso Pérez Boxing 54 Kongo Alphonse Mandonda Athletics 55 Korea Kim Ji-hak Official 56 Kuba Teófilo Stevenson Boxing 57 Kuwait Younis Abdallah Athletics 58 Lesotho Motsapi Moorosi Athletics 59 Libanon Mohamed Tarabulsi Weightlifting 60 Liberia Thomas Howe Athletics 61 Liechtenstein Eduard von Falz-Fein Non-competitor 62 Luxemburg Charles Sowa Athletics 63 Madagaskar Jean-Aimé Randrianalijaona Athletics 64 Malawi Martin Matupi Athletics 65 Malaysia Ali Bakar Football 66 Mali Namakoro Niaré Athletics 67 Malta Joseph Grech Shooting 68 Marokko Moustafa Belhmira Judo 69 Mexiko Felipe Muñoz Swimming 70 Monaco Jean-Charles Seneca Fencing 71 Mongolei Bazarragchaagiin Jamsran Wrestling 72 Nepal Jit Bahadur Khatri Chhetri Athletics 73 Neuseeland Les Mills Athletics 74 Nicaragua Don Vélez Athletics 75 Niederlande Nico Spits Field hockey 76 Niederländische Antillen Bèto Adriana Shooting 77 Niger Issaka Dabore Boxing 78 Nigeria Benedict Majekodunmi Athletics 79 Norwegen Harald Barlie Wrestling 80 Obervolta André Bicaba Athletics 81 Österreich Hubert Raudaschl Sailing 82 Pakistan Muhammad Arshad Malik Weightlifting 83 Panama Donaldo Arza Boxing 84 Paraguay Arnulfo Becker Shooting 85 Peru Enrique Barúa Fencing 86 Philippinen Jimmy Mariano Basketball 87 Polen Waldemar Baszanowski Weightlifting 88 Portugal Armando Aldegalega Athletics 89 Puerto Rico Arnaldo Bristol Athletics 90 Republik China Chi Cheng Athletics 91 Rumänien Aurel Vernescu Canoeing 92 Sambia Julius Luipa Boxing 93 San Marino Italo Casali Shooting 94 Saudi-Arabien Bilal Said Al-Azma Athletics 95 Schweden Jan Jönsson Equestrian 96 Schweiz Urs von Wartburg Athletics 97 Senegal Robert N'Diaye Wrestling 98 Singapur Pat Chan Swimming 99 Somalia Mohamed Aboker Athletics 100 Spanien Francisco Fernández Ochoa Non-competitor 101 Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Lucien Rosa Athletics 102 Sudan Abdel Wahab Abdullah Salih Boxing 103 Surinam Sammy Monsels Athletics 104 Swasiland Richard Mabuza Athletics 105 Syrien Mounzer Khatib Shooting 106 Tansania Claver Kamanya Athletics 107 Thailand Rangsit Yanothai Shooting 108 Togo Roger Kangni Athletics 109 Trinidad und Tobago Hasely Crawford Athletics 110 Tschad Ahmed Senoussi Athletics 111 Tschechoslowakei Ludvík Daněk Athletics 112 Türkei Gıyasettin Yılmaz Wrestling 113 Tunesien Salem Boughattas Athletics 114 UdSSR Aleksandr Medved Wrestling 115 Uganda John Akii-Bua Athletics 116 Ungarn Gergely Kulcsár Athletics 117 Uruguay Darwin Piñeyrúa Athletics 118 USA Olga Fikotová Athletics 119 Venezuela Francisco Rodríguez Boxing 120 Vietnam Hồ Minh Thu Archery 121 Deutschland Detlef Lewe Canoeing

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