During the Parade of Nations within the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating team marched in the Maracanã Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the team's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves.
Parade order
Greece entered first, as the nation of the ancient and first modern Olympic Games. The host nation Brazil marched last. Other teams entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (Portuguese), according with tradition and IOC guidelines. Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching teams in French and English (the official languages of the Olympics) as well as Portuguese, with music accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium.
While most countries entered teams under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political or naming disputes or for historical reasons. North Macedonia entered as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'" () under E because of the naming dispute with Greece until 2020. The People's Republic of China (commonly known as China), entered as the "People's Republic of China" () under C. The Republic of the Congo entered as just "Congo", right before the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which entered under its full name (). Similarly, South Korea entered as "Republic of Korea" () under C while North Korea entered as "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (). The team from the United Kingdom entered under Great Britain, for historical reasons. Additionally, Brunei, Ivory Coast, the United States, Hong Kong, Iran, Laos, Moldova, Russia, Syria, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, the United States Virgin Islands, and the British Virgin Islands all entered under their formal names, respectively "Brunei Darussalam" (), "Côte d’Ivoire" (), "United States of America" (), "Hong Kong, China" (), "Islamic Republic of Iran" (), "Lao People's Democratic Republic" (), "Republic of Moldova" (), "Russian Federation" (), "Syrian Arab Republic" (), "United Republic of Tanzania" (), "Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste" (), "American Virgin Islands" (), and "British Virgin Islands" ().
The Refugee Olympic Team, composed of refugees from several countries, went second to last and received a standing ovation.
Host nation Brazil entered the stadium while the song "Aquarela do Brasil" was being played on the speakers.
Teams and flagbearers Below is a list of parading teams their announced flag bearer in the same order as the parade. Names are given in the form officially designated by the IOC. OrderTeamBrazilian Portuguese nameFlag bearerSport 1 Grécia Sailing 2 Afeganistão Judo 3 África do Sul Athletics 4 Albânia Athletics 5 Alemanha Table tennis 6 Andorra Judo 7 Angola Handball 8 Antígua e Barbuda Athletics 9 Arábia Saudita Judo 10 Argélia Judo 11 Argentina Basketball 12 Armênia Swimming 13 Aruba Sailing 14 Volunteer 15 Austrália Cycling 16 Áustria Table tennis 17 Azerbaijão Boxing 18 Bahamas Athletics 19 Bangladesh Golf 20 Barbados Athletics 21 Bareine Swimming 22 Belarus Cycling 23 Bélgica Athletics 24 Belize Athletics 25 Benim Fencing 26 Bermudas Athletics 27 Bolívia Athletics 28 Bósnia-Herzegovina Athletics 29 Botsuana Athletics 30 Brunei Darussalam Athletics 31 Bulgária Athletics 32 Burkina Faso Judo 33 Burundi Athletics 34 Butão Archery 35 Cabo Verde Taekwondo 36 Camarões Boxing 37 Camboja Taekwondo 38 Canadá Gymnastics 39 Catar Equestrian 40 Cazaquistão Taekwondo 41 Athletics 42 Swimming 43 Chade Athletics 44 Chile Athletics 45 Fencing 46 Chipre Sailing 47 Colômbia Judo 48 Comores Swimming 49 Congo Athletics 50 Taekwondo 51 Canoeing 52 Fencing 53 Costa do Marfim Athletics 54 Costa Rica Athletics 55 Croácia Water polo 56 Cuba Wrestling 57 Dinamarca Tennis 58 Djibuti Athletics 59 Dominica Athletics 60 Athletics 61 Egito Handball 62 El Salvador Shooting 63 Emirados Árabes Unidos Swimming 64 Equador Judo 65 Eritreia Volunteer 66 Eslováquia Shooting 67 Eslovênia Sailing 68 Espanha Tennis 69 Estados Federados da Micronésia Boxing 70 Estados Unidos da América Swimming 71 Estônia Sailing 72 Etiópia Robel Kiros Habte Swimming 73 Ex-República Iugoslava da Macedônia Swimming 74 Fiji Rugby sevens 75 Filipinas Table tennis 76 Finlândia Sailing 77 França Judo 78 Gabão Taekwondo 79 Gâmbia Athletics 80 Gana Flings Owusu-AgyapongAthletics 81 Geórgia Judo 82 Grã-Bretanha Tennis 83 Granada Athletics 84 Guam Swimming 85 Guatemala Gymnastics 86 Guiana Swimming 87 Guiné Judo 88 Guiné Equatorial Athletics 89 Guiné-Bissau Wrestling 90 Haiti Wrestling 91 Honduras Athletics 92 Hong Kong, China Swimming 93 Hungria Fencing 94 Iêmen Judo 95 Índia Shooting 96 Indonésia Athletics 97 Archery 98 Iraque Boxing 99 Irlanda Boxing 100 Islândia Judo 101 Israel Gymnastics 102 Itália Swimming 103 Jamaica Athletics 104 Japão Athletics 105 Jordânia Boxing 106 Kiribati Weightlifting 107 Kosovo Judo 108 Athletics 109 Lesoto Athletics 110 Letônia Cycling 111 Líbano Judo 112 Libéria Athletics 113 Líbia Athletics 114 Liechtenstein Swimming 115 Lituânia Sailing 116 Luxemburgo Tennis 117 Madagascar Athletics 118 Malásia Badminton 119 Maláui Athletics 120 Maldivas Swimming 121 Mali Athletics 122 Malta Swimming 123 Weightlifting 124 Marrocos Equestrian 125 Maurício Badminton 126 Mauritânia Athletics 127 México Cycling 128 Moçambique Canoeing 129 Wrestling 130 Mônaco Athletics 131 Mongólia Judo 132 Montenegro Handball 133 Myanmar Judo 134 Namíbia Boxing 135 Nauru Weightlifting 136 Nepal Judo 137 Nicarágua Shooting 138 Níger Taekwondo 139 Nigéria Table tennis 140 Noruega Shooting 141 Nova Zelândia Sailing 142 Omã Shooting 143 Países Baixos Equestrian 144 Palau Wrestling 145 Palestina Athletics 146 Panamá Athletics 147 Papua Nova Guiné Swimming 148 Paquistão Shooting 149 Paraguai Golf 150 Peru Shooting 151 Polônia Handball 152 Porto Rico Wrestling 153 Portugal Sailing 154 Quênia Archery 155 Quirguistão Boxing 156 República Popular Democrática da Coreia Weightlifting 157 Romênia Gymnastics 158 Ruanda Cycling 159 Volleyball 160 Weightlifting 161 Samoa Weightlifting 162 Samoa Americana Weightlifting 163 San Marino Shooting 164 Santa Lúcia Athletics 165 São Cristóvão e Névis Athletics 166 São Tomé e Príncipe Canoeing 167 São Vicente e Granadinas Athletics 168 Seicheles Sailing 169 Senegal Wrestling 170 Serra Leoa Swimming 171 Sérvia Shooting 172 Singapura Badminton 173 Athletics 174 Somália Athletics 175 Sri Lanka Athletics 176 Suazilândia Athletics 177 Sudão Athletics 178 Sudão do Sul Athletics 179 Suécia Swimming 180 Suíça Gymnastics 181 Suriname Badminton 182 Tadjiquistão Athletics 183 Tailândia Badminton 184 Equestrian 185 Judo 186 Judo 187 Cycling 188 Togo Swimming 189 Tonga Taekwondo 190 Trinidad e Tobago Athletics 191 Tunísia Swimming 192 Turcomenistão Swimming 193 Turquia Wrestling 194 Tuvalu Athletics 195 Ucrânia Shooting 196 Uganda Swimming 197 Uruguai Sailing 198 Uzbequistão Boxing 199 Vanuatu Table tennis 200 Venezuela Fencing 201 Vietnã Vũ Thành An Fencing 202 Sailing 203 Athletics 204 Zâmbia Judo 205 Zimbábue Swimming 206 Time Olímpico de Refugiados Athletics 207 Brasil Modern pentathlon
References