During the parade of nations section of the 1976 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 their respective 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 Canada marched last, in accordance with the tradition and IOC guidelines. As each delegation entered accompanied by the music to be composed by Vic Vogel, the national name was announced in French and English (the official languages of the Olympics).
Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under acronyms or alternative names, mostly due to political and naming disputes. West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) entered as Allemagne (République Federal de Allemagne), East Germany (German Democratic Republic) as République Démocratique Allemande, North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) as R.P.D. Corée (République Populaire Démocratique de Corée), and Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) as U.R.S.S. (Union des Républiques Socialistes Soviétiques).
Ninety-two nations entered the stadium with a combined total of 6,084 athletes. Four of them made their Olympic debut, namely Andorra (which had its overall Olympic debut a few months before in Innsbruck), Antigua and Barbuda (as Antigua), Cayman Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Because of the 1976 Summer Olympics boycott, several African countries which marched at the parade eventually withdrew from the Games, including Cameroon, Morocco, and Tunisia. Senegal and Ivory Coast were the only African countries that competed throughout the duration of the Games. Elsewhere, Burma, Iraq and Guyana also opted to join the Congolese-led boycott. Other countries, such as El Salvador and Zaire, did not participate in Montreal for purely economic reasons. Burma should’ve marched between Bermuda and Bolivia, Iraq between Iran and Ireland, El Salvador between Kuwait and Lebanon, and Zaire between Yugoslavia and Canada.
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 French), the flag bearer's name, and the flag bearer's sport. OrderNationFrenchFlag bearerSport 1 Grèce Vasilios Papageorgopoulos Athletics 2 Allemagne Hans Günter Winkler Equestrian 3 Andorre Esteve Dolsa Shooting 4 Antigua Fred Sowerby Athletics 5 Antilles Néerlandaises Jaime Felipa Judo 6 Arabie Saoudite Mohamed Al-Bouhairi Athletics 7 Argentine Hugo Aberastegui Rowing 8 Australie Raelene Boyle Athletics 9 Autriche Günther Pfaff Canoeing 10 Bahamas Mike Sands Athletics 11 Barbade Lorna Forde Athletics 12 Belgique Gaston Roelants Athletics 13 Belize John Waight Shooting 14 Bermudes Clark Godwin Athletics 15 Bolivie Marco Soria Cycling 16 Brésil João Carlos de Oliveira Athletics 17 Bulgarie Aleksandar Tomov Wrestling 18 Cameroun Nicolas Owona Cycling 19 Îles Caïmans Peter Milburn Sailing 20 Chili Juan Inostroza Fencing 21 Colombie Helmut Bellingrodt Shooting 22 Corée Yoo Jae-kwon Wrestling 23 Costa Rica María París Swimming 24 Côte d'Ivoire Jacques Ayé Abehi Athletics 25 Cuba Teófilo Stevenson Boxing 26 Danemark Judith Andersen Rowing 27 République Dominicaine Eleoncio Mercedes Boxing 28 Équateur Nelson Suárez Diving 29 Espagne Enrique Rodríguez Boxing 30 États-Unis de Amerique Gary Hall, Sr. Swimming 31 Fidji Miriama Tuisorisori-Chambault Athletics 32 Finlande Lasse Virén Athletics 33 France Daniel Morelon Cycling 34 Grande Bretagne Rodney Pattisson Sailing 35 Guatémala Edgar Tornez Weightlifting 36 Guyana Kenny Bristol Boxing 37 Haiti Emmanuel Saint-Hilaire Athletics 38 Honduras Santiago Fonseca Athletics 39 Hong Kong Tso Hok Young Shooting 40 Hongrie Jenő Kamuti Fencing 41 Inde Ajitpal Singh Field hockey 42 Indonésie Syamsul Anwar Harahap Boxing 43 Iran Moslem Eskandar-Filabi Wrestling 44 Irlande Frank Moore Rowing 45 Islande Óskar Jakobsson Athletics 46 Israël Esther Roth-Shahamorov Athletics 47 Italie Klaus Dibiasi Diving 48 Jamaïque Don Quarrie Athletics 49 Japon Katsutoshi Nekoda Volleyball 50 Koweït Abdul Nasser Al-Sayegh Fencing 51 Liban Toni Khouri Official 52 Liechtenstein Paul Büchel Judo 53 Luxembourg Robert Schiel Fencing 54 Malaisie Ishtiaq Mubarak Athletics 55 Mali 56 Maroc Abdel Latif Fatihi Boxing 57 Mexique Teresa Díaz Gymnastics 58 Monaco Francis Boisson Shooting (official) 59 Mongolie Zevegiin Oidov Wrestling 60 Népal Baikuntha Manandhar Athletics 61 Nicaragua Frank Richardson Swimming 62 Norvège Leif Jenssen Weightlifting 63 Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée Wavala Kali Athletics 64 Nouvelle-Zélande David Aspin Wrestling 65 Pakistan Abdul Rashid Field hockey 66 Panamá Georgina Osorio Swimming 67 Paraguay Julio Abreu Swimming 68 Pays-Bas André Bolhuis Field hockey 69 Pérou Teresa Núñez Volleyball 70 Philippines Gerardo Rosario Swimming 71 Pologne Grzegorz Śledziewski Canoeing 72 Porto Rico Téofilo Colón Athletics (non-participant) 73 Portugal Carlos Lopes Athletics 74 République Démocratique Allemande Hans-Georg Reimann Athletics 75 R.P.D. Corée Kim Man-dok Official 76 Roumanie Nicolae Martinescu Wrestling 77 Saint-Marin Italo Casali Shooting 78 Senegal Samba Dièye Athletics 79 Singapour Koh Eng Kian Judo 80 Suède Jan Karlsson Wrestling 81 Suisse Christian Kauter Fencing 82 Suriname Ricardo Elmont Judo 83 Swaziland Jonathan Magagula Boxing 84 Tchécoslovaquie Ludvík Daněk Athletics 85 Thaïlande Anat Ratanapol Athletics 86 Trinidad-Tobago Hasely Crawford Athletics 87 Tunisie Mohammed Gammoudi Athletics 88 Turquie Erol Küçükbakırcı Cycling 89 U.R.S.S. Vasily Alekseyev Weightlifting 90 Uruguay Reinaldo Kutscher Rowing 91 Venezuela Manuel Luna Judo 92 Îles Vierges Ivan David Wrestling 93 Yougoslavie Hrvoje Horvat Handball 94 Canada Abby Hoffman Athletics
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