During the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the flag bearers of 207 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) arrived into Maracanã Stadium. 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 the 1956 Summer Olympics, after a suggestion by Australian-born British student John 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 the opening ceremony.
Countries and flagbearers
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. This table is sortable by country name in English, country name in Brazilian Portuguese, the flag bearer's name, or the flag bearer's sport. Names are given as were officially designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).