As a fan of the Olympic games and its opening ceremony, you may have noticed the iconic Parade of the Nations is usually led by Greece irrespective of the venue of the event.
Greece’s position as the first nation to walk in during the parade pays tribute to its history as the birthplace of the Olympics and because Greece was the host of the first modern Olympic games in 1896.
Ever since, Greece has only changed position once in 2004 when the Olympic games was taken back to its source in Athens, Greece.
According to the rule, Greece walks in first, the other nations follow in alphabetical order while the host nation comes in last, but in 2004, Greece’s flag bearer walked in first to honour the tradition and the rest of the Greek parade walked in last to close the Parade of the Nations.
Another notable tradition of honoring upcoming Olympic host nations evolved, which has them move to the end of the order, right before the host nation. For instance, this year in Tokyo, the US delegation entered third-to-last, as hosts of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; followed by France, which will host the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris; and finally, the Japanese delegation.
Moreso, in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games, the delegation known as ‘Refugee Olympic Team’, which comprises of international athletes, who have been forced to flee their home countries, enter under the Olympic flag, second overall, just behind Greece and before the alphabetical entrance.
Greece is highly respected and revered in the Olympic games as a tradition and most importantly in tribute to the history of the games.
