During the Parade of Nations portion of the

2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 starting at 20:45 EEST (UTC+3) at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the forma ...

, 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 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

The national team of Greece, as the host nation, entered the stadium last, breaking the tradition that the Greece national team enter first in every Olympic opening ceremony as a tribute for being the original host of both the Ancient and the Modern Olympic Games. However, in a nod to tradition, the Greek flag and flag bearer

Pyrros Dimas Pyrros Dimas ( el, Πύρρος Δήμας; ; born 13 October 1971) is a Greek politician and former weightlifter. He is currently the technical director for USA Weightlifting, having taken that position in June 2017. Dimas has also been involve ...

entered at the beginning of the parade ahead of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

, to avoid breaking the tradition entirely. Dimas also led the Greece national team when they entered last. Following tradition, other countries entered the stadium in name order in the language of the host country (Greece), which in this case is

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

and

Timor-Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

competed for the first time at these Olympic Games, whereas

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

returned from its eight-year absence after the national Olympic committee had been suspended under the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

regime since 1999. Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, French, and English (the official languages of the Olympics) with the music, performed and played by Dutch musician

Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was ...

, accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium. Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, mostly due to political and naming disputes. The

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

entered as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'" ("Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβική Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας") under Π because of the naming dispute with Greece. The

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(commonly known as Taiwan) entered with the compromised

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

and

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

of "Chinese Taipei" ("Κινεζικη Ταϊπεϊ") under Τ so that they did not enter together with conflicting

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(commonly known as China), which entered as the "People's Republic of China" ("Λαϊκή Δημοκρατία της Κίνας") under Κ. The

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

entered as just "Congo" (Κονγκό), while the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

entered with its full name, "Λαϊκή Δημοκρατία του Κονγκό" under Δ. The British Virgin Islands ("Βρετανικές Παρθένοι Νήσοι") entered under Β while the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

entered as simply the "Virgin Islands" ("Παρθένοι Νήσοι"), under Π. Additionally,

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 ...

, the United States,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, Russia,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and Hong Kong all entered under their formal names, respectively "Côte d'Ivoire", the "United States of America", "Islamic Republic of Iran", "Lao People's Democratic Republic", "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya", "Russian Federation", "Syrian Arab Republic" and "Hong Kong, China". Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: triple Grand Slam champion and tennis player

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...

(Switzerland), NBA basketball player

Yao Ming Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associat ...

(People's Republic of China), six-time Olympians and Star sailors

Colin Beashel Colin Kenneth Beashel (born 21 November 1959) is an Australian sailor who crewed on the winning America's Cup team Australia II in 1983 and competed at six Olympics between 1984 and 2004, winning bronze in 1996. He became, jointly with Brazili ...

(Australia) and

Torben Grael Torben is a Danish variant of the given name Torbjörn. People named Torben include: *Torben Betts (born 1968), English playwright and screenwriter *Torben Boye (born 1966), Danish former footballer *Torben Frank (born 1968), Danish former footbal ...

(Brazil), triple Olympic weightlifting champion

(Greece), show jumper

Ludger Beerbaum Ludger Beerbaum (, ; born 26 August 1963 in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia) is an internationally successful German equestrian who competes in show jumping and has been ranked the No. 1 Show Jumper in the world by the FEI on multiple occasion ...

(Germany), two-time Olympic sprint freestyle champion Alexander Popov (Russia), four-time rowing champion

Elisabeta Lipă Elisabeta Lipă (; née Oleniuc on 26 October 1964) is a retired rower and government official from Romania. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals. She holds the rec ...

(Romania), decathlon champion

Erki Nool Erki Nool (born 25 June 1970, in Võru, Estonia) is an Estonian decathlete and former politician. Life and career Nool grew up in an impoverished environment in the southern part of Võru. His father was a worker in a furniture factory and his ...

(Estonia), and rings gymnast

Jury Chechi Jury Dimitri Chechi (; born 11 October 1969) is a retired Italian gymnast. Biography Chechi was named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. He won the Olympics title in the rings at Atlanta 1996 and was third at Athens 2004. Chechi's bronze was the r ...

(Italy).

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.

References

{{Olympic Games national flag bearers by year Flag bearers Lists of Olympic flag bearers

Parade order

List

See also

References