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| 2008 Summer Olympics |
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Theflag bearers of 204National Olympic Committees (NOCs) arrived into the mainOlympic Stadium, during theclosing ceremony of the2008 Summer Olympics, held inBeijing on 24 August 2008. The flag bearers from each participating country entered the stadium informally in single file, and behind them marched all the athletes without any distinction or grouping by nationality. The blending of all the athletes is a tradition that dates from the1956 Summer Olympics, after a suggestion by Australian-born British studentJohn Ian Wing, who thought it would be a way of bringing the athletes of the world together as "one nation." The flags of each country were not necessarily carried by the same flag bearer as in theopening ceremony.
The following is a list of each country's 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 theIOC, and the Chinese names follow their official designations by theBeijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.[1]
 Olympic Games national flag bearers by year | |
|---|---|
| Summer Olympics | |
| Winter Olympics | |
| Intercalated Games | |
| Summer Youth Olympics | |
| Winter Youth Olympics | |
