The Paradoxical International Parade of Nations

This is ultimately a story about flag dipping–or the lack thereof–and how the American media lied about it, until it turned into yet another “Land of the Free” myth based on false information. But in order to get there, we have to dig into another subject first, the underlying paradox of the Games.

How did the Olympic movement, designed to further global peace and harmony, create such opportunities for factionalism and jingoism? That is, why does this international sports tournament which celebrates human achievement and the brotherhood of man revolve around nations?

In anticipation of the pageantry, pomp, and parade we are about to experience, I want to offer a little perspective on the history of the ceremonies themselves, in particular, on how the parade of nations got started and on why America loves to wave its own flag but never dip it.

Nations Were Not a Foregone Conclusion

A hundred and fifty years ago, nations were still a raw, new idea. Borders were continually redrawn, and empires reigned supreme. Italy had just brought together its city states under a single flag, for instance, while Greece had just broken away from the Ottomans. Sporting events were also built around local rivalries: Oxford vs. Cambridge, Venetian houses, the Boston Athletic Club vs. the New York Athletic Club. In the first decade of the Olympics, from 1896 to 1906, national teams weren’t as much a thing. Two different French teams played in the 1900 wayer polo final: Libellule de Paris and Pupilles de Neptune de Lille. In croquet, it was all French teams playing each other for medals. At the same time, in polo and other sports, the teams could be a mix of athletes from different countries. The idea of national teams had not yet solidified.

The first parade in the first games of 1896 consisted of dignitaries: kings, queens, and the military. The athletes didn’t enter the stadium. There were lots of speeches. Many of the prizes, olive branches and silver cups and whatnots, were given by the King of Greece at a breakfast before the Games had even finished. This mode emphasized the idea of the graces of gentlemen athletes, the amateurs vying for recognition of achievement among their peers or their superiors, but also like ancient Greek heroes, revered among “all men.” Coubertin, that wily old fox credited with cobbling together the Great Olympic Design, described such ideals in what is still perhaps the most profound statements of the Olympic Movement:

Peace could be the product only of a better world; a better world could be brought about only by better individuals; and better individuals could be developed only by the give and take, the buffering and battering, the stress and strain of free competition.

But it was that same Coubertin who suggested that the teams should rise above local competition, that national rivalry could be put to the service of of promoting international cooperation:

One may be filled with desire to see the colors of one’s club or college triumph in a national meeting, but how much stronger is the feeling when the colors of one’s country are at stake!

This would set up what George Orwell (the 1984 guy) would describe in a 1945 essay on “The Sporting Spirit” as “war minus the shooting.”

Flags First Appear at the Squeezed In Games

The first parade of nations happened at the 1906 Games, called the Intercalated Games. These were Greece’s idea, which the IOC did not sanction. Greece wanted to do a 10th anniversary thing of the 1896 event, but they didn’t want the IOC in charge, so the IOC didn’t recognize them. Hence, now they’re called “intercalated” meaning “stuck in between.” Yet they did include the very first Parade of Nations. In Athens, 900 athletes from a dozen nations entered the stadium. Many athletes came from the military as several competitions, from equestrian to fencing, relied on athletes with a military background. One thing every soldier knows in every country is how to march properly.

In these first Games where flags played a role, there was an immediate flag-related incident. In 1906, Ireland was still treated as a British colony. Three athletes competing as part of the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association were required to be represented by the British flag. When Irish athlete Peter O’Connor won the triple jump, he shinnied up the flagpole and replaced the Union Jack with the Irish Hibernian flag.

He was helped in part by many Irish-Americans on Team USA, including the head of the American contingent, James Sullivan. A large part of the American team, in fact, was known as the “Irish Whales,” burly men who won many of the throwing and track events. When O’Connor made his move, the Americans acted as bodyguards, surrounding the flagpole until the deed was done. The Americans were out in force, winning a big chunk of medals, and prompting a happy telegram from Teddy Roosevelt: Uncle Sam Is All Right!

Beginning in 1908, the whole idea of what constituted nations was up for debate. Bohemia had a team, even though it was really more of a province. South Africa was allotted its own team even though it was still a mishmash of colonies. Canada was controlled from London, but given its own team and flag. And there were other flag problems in 1908. America and Sweden attended, but their flags were not put up in the stadium with others; China and Japan did not attend, but their flags flew proudly. Finland wanted to be treated as its own team, though it still was a province of Russia. The Russians said no and, thus, the Finnish team marched separately but without a flag, and not in its normal order.

The Mythical (But False) Refusal to Dip

But the biggest flag and nation-related parade issue of 1908 involved Team USA, and it would create a legend built on media imagination rather than facts. This had to do with the flag bearer, Ralph Rose, and may have been the bookend to the Irish flagpole climbing from two years earlier. Ceremonies involved royals and dignitaries, and the parades in 1906 and 1908 were designed to pass in front of the royal box. Each flag bearer was supposed to dip or lower the flag as a sign of respect.

For whatever reason, Ralph Rose did not. Because this would become an international incident, many historians have dug hard into why. Rose was a known “hothead.” Though not an Irish “whale,” his Irish-Americans teammates may have convinced him to thumb his nose at the Brits. There was the very fact of America’s relationship with Britain, still icy after throwing off the yoke of George III, only a century later. Maybe Rose was just a rude kinda guy.

Here are other facts. according to Mark Dyreson, an expert on America at these early games. In the next games in Sweden 1912, the flag bearer dipped the flag in front of King Gustav. 1920 Antwerp, no dipping by bearer Pat McDonald; in 1924 Paris, that same McDonald dipped the flag. So for the record, from 1906 forward, there was dip, no dip, dip, no dip, and dip.

What happened in London when Rose did not dip the flag? The American newspapers treated the refusal as a horrible ambassadorial faux pas. They roasted Rose for his boorish behavior. It may have been why some of the next few bearers responded more cordially. However, Rose’s refusal and the inconsistent approach of later bearers, coupled with America’s entry assistance in Europe with WWI, turned the flag dipping issue into a bigger thing. Part of the American military code was a rule that the flag would not be lowered in front of any foreign power. This spilled over into the sporting US Olympic “Flag Code,” by 1924, which enshrined no dipping. Yet the 1924 bearer dipped the flag.

In 1928, the American contingent was led by newly minted General Douglas MacArthur. He warned bearer Bud Houser not to lower the flag, and the New York Times then backed him up by saying it was American “tradition.” Still, other writers called out the team again for its tacky behavior and criticized MacArthur for emphasizing the military at the expense of good form on the international stage. Avery Brundage, then head of the American Olympic Commitee, hated the inconsistency and the complaints. Brundage proposed the creation of a special “Olympic” flag for each country’s sporting team. The IOC said no, claiming that what Coubertin recommended was sacrosanct, no matter how divisive it turned out to be as a policy.

The corker came in 1936. No one on the American team wanted to lower the flag in front of Adolf Hitler, except Brundage, who was bending over backward to appease the Nazis in order to promote the Olympic Movement. Media columnist Arthur Daley then invented the story that America never dipped its flag, from the Ralph Rose days forward. He claimed it was American tradition and emphasized another story that had floated around for thirty years without any proof. Supposedly someone–Rose or teammate Martin Sheridan or someone else–had said, “This flag dips for no early king.” In 1908, no one reported the incident, and neither Sheridan nor Rose ever took credit for it even though Sheridan wrote a book about his Olympic experience. But the saying stuck, became part of the legend, and was part of the justification for snubbing Hitler.

Which is why in 2012, when Mariel Zagunis was chosen as flag bearer for the London ceremonies, there was a big story labeled “To Dip or Not to Dip?” For the record, she did not.

Make It a Drinking Game

Paris has made an interesting choice for its Parade of Nations. The athletes will float along the Seine on boats. There are more than 160 “barges” planned for the ceremony, although there are 204 participating countries. While I have questions about how fast the boats will go and how the torch relay will work and whether we will watch the athletes disembark, the posts that say “all you need to know about the ceremonies” actually don’t tell you much. We do know that the old man, the legend of basketball, Lebron James, and the young woman, the rising star of tennis, Coco Gauff, will be the two American flag bearers. Who holds what for how long and how is hard to say.

I always enjoy the parade, even though it is lengthy and there are so many little countries. But we can treat it as a game, can’t we? Have a globe handy, and for every fifth country, whoever can get closest to it on the globe gets a point. Whoever can name the capital another point. Take a sip of a drink for any contingent that has less than five athletes participating. Only one athlete? Drain the glass!

Even if the flag holding and national displays were designed to promote rivalries, it’s the only time we see these countries! The idea of this ceremony and these Games have created a worldwide event that nothing can match. There is no other international multi-event tournament. The only other international thing that comes close is the United Nations and, in comparison, the Olympic Games is a well-oiled machine. Despite the way it promotes rivalry, it is the only event where we even think about other countries or learn about the world. Why else would anyone look up where Tonga is, except for when Pia Taufatofua saunters in, for the third time, carrying his country’s flag in one hand. (I guess he’ll be standing on the boat as it goes by).

We’ll still see cheating at the international level. By now, you’ll probably see feeds about shenanigans by the coach of the Canadian soccer team. But there were also be plenty of examples where the athletes transcend their national borders. Check out, for instance, this moment from 2020 Tokyo. Italian athlete Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barsham were tied after a number of rounds in the high jump competition. The protocol was a jump-off; Babe Didrickson would have insisted on it. But when Barsham was asked about the jump-off, he also asked if they could share the gold? And when the answer was a yes, he insisted on it and Tamberi jumped into his arms:

If it were America, the coach might have run over with a “not so fast” wave. Or not. But when the Olympics does this, pits nations against each other, only to have them cooperate in the biggest moment, there is no better outcome from such better individuals.