During the Parade of Nations at the

2018 Asian Games opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games took place on Saturday, 18 August 2018, at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event commenced at 19:00 Indonesia Western Time (UTC+7) and ended at 21:25 local time. Wishnut ...

, beginning at 19:00 WIB ( UTC+7) on 18 August 2018, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium ( id, Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno; literally "Bung Karno Sports Arena Main Stadium"), formerly Senayan Main Stadium and Gelora Senayan Main Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located at the center of the Gel ...

in the co-host city of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, Indonesia, preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's

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. In keeping with tradition, the host nation,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

entered last. 44 teams marched in (43 nations and the Unified Korea team). Although the Games were held in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

was used to organize the Parade of Nations (as per Olympic Council of Asia protocol) instead of

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

, the official language of the nation. Had the parade followed the Indonesian alphabet,

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 ...

would have been followed by

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

would have been the penultimate country before Indonesia.

Parade order

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 China (commonly known as

Taiwan 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 nort ...

) entered with the compromised name and flag of "Chinese Taipei" under T so that they did not enter together with conflicting China, under C.

List

Below is a list of parading countries and their announced flag bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name and flag bearer's sport. Names are given in the form officially designated by the OCA. * Iran and Saudi Arabia paraded as "IR Iran" and "Saudi Arabia" respectively, though the announcer called out the full names "Islamic Republic of Iran" and "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".

References

{{Portal bar, Lists, Asia, Sports, Indonesia Parade of Nations Parades in Asia Lists of Asian Games flag bearers