During the parade of nations section of the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

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 his or her respective country chosen either by the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

or by the athletes themselves to represent their country.

Parade order

As the nation of the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation Canada marched last, in accordance with the tradition and

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

guidelines. As each delegation entered accompanied by the music to be composed by

Vic Vogel Victor Stefan Vogel (August 3, 1935 – September 16, 2019) was a Canadian jazz pianist, composer, arranger, trombonist, and conductor. Biography Vogel was born in 1935 to Hungarian parents living in Montreal. He began playing the piano at the ...

, 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 Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

(as ''Antigua''),

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

, and Papua New Guinea. Because of the

1976 Summer Olympics boycott Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, several African countries which marched at the parade eventually withdrew from the Games, including Cameroon, Morocco, and Tunisia. Senegal and

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

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.

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. ;Notes

References

{{Olympic Games national flag bearers by year 1976 Summer Olympics Lists of Olympic flag bearers