page_title: List of flag bearers for the United States at the Olympics
section_title: Flag dipping
hierarchical_section_title: List of flag bearers for the United States at the Olympics / Flag dipping
context_page_description: This is a list of flag bearers who have represented United States at the Olympics. Flag bearers carry the national flag of their country at the opening ceremony and closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. Men and women from across the country and from a variety of sports have carried the flag at both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games. More than half of those representing the teams at the Summer Olympics are track or field athletes, though that sport does account for the most competitors at the Games.
  James Bickford, Norman Armitage, and Pat McDonald have all performed the duty twice. Several athletes born in other countries have carried the flag, including those from Norway, Ireland, Sudan, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
context_section_description: Olympic protocol is that the flag bearer dips their flag to the head of state as part of the parade.  It has become tradition that the U.S. flag is not dipped, though the origins of this are surrounded by legend and are widely misreported:
  The motives for the original refusal, the identity of the flag-bearer and the truth behind the quotation and other issues remain much murkier in the historical record than legend-tellers portray ... The evolution of this flag mythology reveals a great deal about the complex strains of early 20th century American nationalism.
  — Mark Dyreson, Pennsylvania State University sports historian
  The parade of nations was introduced at the 1906 Intercalated Games with Matthew Halpin as the U.S. flag bearer.  Halpin gladly dipped the flag, noting that when he did so King George I of Greece "staked me to a smile that made me feel like I belonged".  The controversy began at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London where flag bearers were expected to dip the flag to Edward VII on two occasions.  Research by the International Society of Olympic Historians concluded that the flag bearer was Ralph Rose and that he might not have dipped the flag to the British King on one of those occasions in support of Irish struggle against British imperialism.  Martin Sheridan is often attributed with the explanation by stating at the time "This flag dips to no earthly king" but no evidence of this can be found.  Modern versions of the story describe how the Stars and Stripes have never been dipped during the parade of nations since 1908 but this is apocryphal.  It has been dipped on three occasions since then: 1912, 1924, and 1932.
  The 1932 winter games were held in Lake Placid and, though head of state President Herbert Hoover would normally have greeted the parade of nations, the duty was passed to New York governor Franklin Roosevelt.  This was the last time that the flag was dipped at the Olympics as political forces intervened thereafter.  The head of state awaiting the athletes at the 1936 Summer Games was Adolf Hitler, to whom the U.S. refused to lower their flag.  The 1940 Olympics were cancelled due to the onset of World War II and, in 1942, the United States Congress introduced the United States Flag Code which stated: "That no disrespect should be given to the flag of the United States of America, the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing."  However, since the Flag Code is legally unenforceable, it appears to be merely codified tradition.
caption: Ralph Rose competing at the 1908 Olympics after not dipping the flag in the opening ceremony
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