2024 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations
The Parade of Nations within the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony took place on 26 July 2024 on the Seine river in Paris, France. Athletes and officials from each participating team marched into the Jardins du Trocadéro preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer was chosen either by the team's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. On 13 December 2021, it was announced that the opening ceremony would feature athletes being transported by boat from Pont d'Austerlitz to Pont d'Iéna along the Seine river. The 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) route passed landmarks such as the Louvre, Notre-Dame de Paris, and Place de la Concorde, and feature cultural presentations. The official protocol took place at a 30,000-seat mini-stadium at the Trocadéro. For the first time in Olympic history, the parade procedure was not held during a separate portion of the opening ceremony, with the parade being integrated during the artistic programme, which simultaneously allowed for the athletes to sail on their boats during the artistic portion.
Organizers stated that the ceremony would be the most spectacular and accessible opening ceremony in Olympic history, with Estanguet stating that it would be free to attend, and estimating that it could attract as many as 300,000 spectators. In addition, similar to the 2020 Summer Olympics, each team had the option of having a male flag bearer and a female flag bearer in an effort to promote gender equality.
== Parade order ==
Greece sailed out first, as the nation of the ancient and first modern Olympic Games, followed by the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, composed of refugees from several countries. Per the revised protocol introduced at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Australia was antepenultimate as the host of the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane, the United States was penultimate as the host of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and host nation France entered last. Other teams sailed in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (French), according to tradition and IOC guidelines.While most countries entered teams under their short names, several entered under more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political or naming disputes or for historical reasons. The People's Republic of China (commonly known as China), entered as the People's Republic of China (République populaire de Chine) 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 (République démocratique du Congo). Similarly, South Korea entered as Republic of Korea (République de Corée) under C while North Korea entered as Democratic People's Republic of Korea (République populaire démocratique de Corée). The team from the United Kingdom entered as Great Britain (Grande-Bretagne), for historical reasons, and the team from Taiwan as Chinese Taipei (Chinese Taipei). Additionally, Brunei, the United States, East Timor, Hong Kong, Iran, Laos, Moldova, Syria, and Tanzania all entered under their formal names, respectively Brunei Darussalam (Brunei Darussalam), United States of America (États-Unis d'Amérique), Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (République démocratique du Timor-Leste), Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong, Chine), Islamic Republic of Iran (République islamique d' Iran), Lao People's Democratic Republic (République populaire démocratique Lao), Republic of Moldova (République de Moldova), Syrian Arab Republic (République arabe syrienne), and United Republic of Tanzania (République-Unie de Tanzanie).
This is the first Olympics where the delegations of the Czech Republic and Turkey were introduced under the names Czechia (Tchéquie) and Türkiye respectively.
=== Participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes ===The potential participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes has remained controversial amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended sports federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from participating in international tournaments, citing the violation of the Olympic Truce.
In July 2023, the IOC stated that while Russia and Belarus would not be formally invited, their athletes would be allowed to compete as neutrals in a similar manner to Wimbledon after it reversed its ban of Russians and Belarusians that year. This was confirmed by the IOC in December 2023, with Russian and Belarusian athletes allowed to compete as neutrals without anthems or flags for the upcoming Games. As individual athletes, the delegation did not take part in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony.
== Teams and flagbearers ==
Below is a list of parading teams, the boats on which they travelled, and their announced flag bearer(s), in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by team name, flag bearer's name, and flag bearer's sport. The IOC named the final list of flagbearers on 26 July 2024.Notes
Countries between Greece and Bahrain were presented on the Enchanté segment, then continued between Bangladesh and People's Republic of China
Countries between Cyprus and Gabon were presented on the Fraternité segment, then continued between Gambia and Jamaica
Countries between Japan and Norway were presented on the Sportivité segment
Countries between New Zealand and the host nation France were presented on the Festivité segment