1972 Summer Olympics national flag bearers

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.

A record of 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 Rhodesia's invitation to take part in the 1972 Summer Games was withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee four days before the opening ceremony, in response to African countries' (such as Ethiopia and Kenya) protests against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)	Griechenland	Khristos Papanikolaou	Athletics
2	Egypt (EGY)	Ägypten	Kamal Kamel El-Guamel	Basketball
3	Ethiopia (ETH)	Äthiopien	Mamo Wolde	Athletics
4	Afghanistan (AFG)	Afghanistan	Ghulam Dastagir	Wrestling
5	Albania (ALB)	Albanien	Afërdita Tusha	Shooting
6	Algeria (ALG)	Algerien	Azzedine Azzouzi	Athletics
7	Argentina (ARG)	Argentinien	Carlos Cesar Delia	Equestrian
8	Australia (AUS)	Australien	Dennis Green	Canoe Sprint
9	Bahamas (BAH)	Bahamas
10	Barbados (BAR)	Barbados	Anthony Phillips	Weightlifting
11	Belgium (BEL)	Belgien	Gaston Roelants	Athletics
12	Bermuda (BER)	Bermuda	Kirk Cooper	Sailing
13	Bolivia (BOL)	Bolivien	Roberto Nielsen-Reyes	Equestrian
14	Brazil (BRA)	Brasilien	Luiz Cláudio Menon	Basketball
15	British Honduras (HBR)	Britisch Honduras	Gimore Hinksen	Non-competitor
16	Bulgaria (BUL)	Bulgarien	Dimitar Zlatanov	Volleyball
17	Burma (BIR)	Burma	Win Maung	Football[5]
18	Chile (CHI)	Chile	René Varas	Equestrian
19	Costa Rica (CRC)	Costa Rica
20	Denmark (DEN)	Dänemark	Peder Pedersen	Cycling
21	Dahomey (DAH)	Dahomey
22	East Germany (GDR)	DDR[n 1]	Manfred Wolke	Boxing
23	Dominican Republic (DOM)	Dominikanische Republik	Emilio Berroa	Weightlifting
24	North Korea (PRK)	DVR Korea[n 2]	Kim Man-Dok	Tennis
25	Ecuador (ECU)	Ecuador	Abdalá Bucaram	Athletics
26	Ivory Coast (CIV)	Elfenbeinküste	Simbara Maki	Athletics
27	El Salvador (ESA)	El Salvador	Salvador Vilanova	Swimming
28	Fiji (FIJ)	Fidschi		Athletics
29	Finland (FIN)	Finnland	Ilkka Nummisto	Canoe Sprint
30	France (FRA)	Frankreich	Jean-Claude Magnan	Fencing
31	Gabon (GAB)	Gabun	Matias Moussobou	Boxing
32	Ghana (GHA)	Ghana	Sam Bugri	Athletics
33	Great Britain (GBR)	Großbritannien	David Broome	Equestrian
34	Guatemala (GUA)	Guatemala	Víctor Castellanos	Shooting
35	Guyana (GUY)	Guyana	Gordon Sankis	Cycling
36	Haiti (HAI)	Haiti	Jules Meliner	Athletics
37	Hong Kong (HKG)	Hong Kong	Peter Rull Sr.	Shooting
38	India (IND)	Indien	D. N. Devine Jones	Boxing
39	Indonesia (INA)	Indonesien	Wiem Gommies	Boxing
40	Iran (IRI)	Iran	Abdollah Movahed	Wrestling
41	Ireland (IRL)	Irland	Ronnie McMahon	Equestrian
42	Iceland (ISL)	Island	Geir Hallsteinsson	Handball
43	Israel (ISR)	Israel	Henry Hershkowitz	Shooting
44	Italy (ITA)	Italien	Abdon Pamich	Athletics
45	Jamaica (JAM)	Jamaika	Lennox Miller	Athletics
46	Japan (JPN)	Japan	Masatoshi Shinomaki	Judo
47	Yugoslavia (YUG)	Jugoslawien	Mirko Sandić	Water Polo
48	Virgin Islands (ISV)	Jungferninseln	William Peets	Boxing
49	Khmer Republic (KHM)	Kambodscha	Chaing Cheng	Boxing
50	Cameroon (CMR)	Kamerun	Gaston Malam	Athletics
51	Canada (CAN)	Kanada	Douglas Rogers	Judo
52	Kenya (KEN)	Kenia	Kipchoge Keino	Arhletics
53	Colombia (COL)	Kolumbien	Alfonso Pérez	Boxing
54	Republic of the Congo (CGO)	Kongo
55	South Korea (KOR)	Korea
56	Cuba (CUB)	Kuba	Teófilo Stevenson	Boxing
57	Kuwait (KUW)	Kuwait	Younis Abdallah Rabee	Athletics
58	Lesotho (LES)	Lesotho	Motsapi Moorosi	Athletics
59	Lebanon (LIB)	Libanon	Mohamed Tarabulsi	Weightlifting
60	Liberia (LBR)	Liberia	Thomas Howe	Athletics
61	Liechtenstein (LIE)	Liechtenstein	Eduard von Falz-Fein	Non competitor
62	Luxembourg (LUX)	Luxemburg	Charles Sowa	Athletics
63	Madagascar (MAD)	Madagaskar	Jean-Aimé Randrianalijaona	Athletics
64	Malawi (MAW)	Malawi	Martin Matupi	Athletics
65	Malaysia (MAS)	Malaysia	Mohamed Bakar	Football
66	Mali (MLI)	Mali	Namakoro Niaré	Athletics
67	Malta (MLT)	Malta	Joseph Grech	Shooting
68	Morocco (MAR)	Marokko
69	Mexico (MEX)	Mexiko	Felipe Muñoz	Swimming
70	Monaco (MON)	Monaco	Jean-Charles Seneca	Fencing
71	Mongolia (MGL)	Mongolei	Bazarragchaagiin Jamsran	Wrestling
72	Nepal (NEP)	Nepal	Jit Bahadur Khatri Chhetri
73	New Zealand (NZL)	Neuseeland	Les Mills	Athletics
74	Nicaragua (NCA)	Nicaragua	Don Vélez
75	Netherlands (NED)	Niederlande	Nico Spits	Field Hockey
76	Netherlands Antilles (AHO)	Niederländische Antillen	Bèto Adriana
77	Niger (NIG)	Niger	Issaka Dabore
78	Nigeria (NGR)	Nigeria	Benedict Majekodunmi	Athletics
79	Norway (NOR)	Norwegen	Harald Barlie	Wrestling
80	Upper Volta (VOL)	Obervolta
81	Austria (AUT)	Österreich	Hubert Raudaschl	Sailing
82	Pakistan (PAK)	Pakistan	Mohammad Malik Arshad
83	Panama (PAN)	Panama	Donaldo Arza	Boxing
84	Paraguay (PAR)	Paraguay	Arnulfo Ruben Becker
85	Peru (PER)	Peru	Enrique Barza	Fencing
86	Philippines (PHI)	Philippinen	Jimmy Mariano	Basketball
87	Poland (POL)	Polen	Waldemar Baszanowski	Weightlifting
88	Portugal (POR)	Portugal	Armando Ardegalega	Athletics
89	Puerto Rico (PUR)	Puerto Rico	Arnaldo Bistol	Athletics
90	Republic of China (ROC)	Republik China	Chi Cheng	Athletics
91	Romania (ROM)	Rumänien	Aurel Vernescu	Canoeing
92	Zambia (ZAM)	Sambia
93	San Marino (SMR)	San Marino	Casale Pilade	Shooting
94	Saudi Arabia (KSA)	Saudi-Arabien	Bilal Said Al-Azma	Athletics
95	Sweden (SWE)	Schweden	Jan Jönsson	Equestrian
96	Switzerland (SUI)	Schweiz	Urs von Wartburg	Athletics
97	Senegal (SEN)	Senegal	Robert N'Diaye	Wrestling
98	Singapore (SIN)	Singapur	Pat Chan	Swimming
99	Somalia (SOM)	Somalia	Mohamed Aboker	Athletics
100	Spain (ESP)	Spanien	Francisco Fernández Ochoa	Non competitor
101	Ceylon (CEY)	Sri Lanka (Ceylon)	Lucien Rosa	Athletics
102	Sudan (SUD)	Sudan	Abdel Wahab Abdullah Salih	Boxing
103	Suriname (SUR)	Suriname	Sammy Monsels	Athletics
104	Swaziland (SWZ)	Swasiland	Richard Mabuza	Athletics (marathon)
105	Syria (SYR)	Syrien	Mounzer Khatib	Shooting
106	Tanzania (TAN)	Tansania	Claver Kamanya	Athletics
107	Thailand (THA)	Thailand	Rangsit Yanothai	Shooting
108	Togo (TOG)	Togo	Roger Kangni	Athletics
109	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)	Trinidad und Tobago	Hasely Crawford	Athletics
110	Chad (CHA)	Tschad	Ahmed Senoussi	Athletics (high jump)
111	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	Tschechoslowakei	Ludvík Daněk	Athletics
112	Turkey (TUR)	Türkei	Gıyasettin Yılmaz	Wrestling
113	Tunisia (TUN)	Tunesien	Salem Boughattas	Athletics
114	Soviet Union (URS)	UdSSR[n 3]	Aleksandr Medved	Wrestling
115	Uganda (UGA)	Uganda	John Akii-Bua	Athletics
116	Hungary (HUN)	Ungarn	Gergely Kulcsár	Athletics
117	Uruguay (URU)	Uruguay	Darwin Piñeyrúa	Athletics
118	United States (USA)	USA[n 4]	Olga Fikotová	Athletics
119	Venezuela (VEN)	Venezuela	Francisco Rodríguez	Boxing
120	Vietnam (VIE)	Vietnam	Ho Minh Thu	Archery
121	West Germany (FRG)	Deutschland	Detlef Lewe	Canoe Sprint

Notes

References[]