These three flags are banned at the Olympic Games

Three flags are banned altogether from the 2024 Paris Olympics. Credit: American_rugbier, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Did you know that there are three very famous flags of powerful countries in the world whose flags are completely banned from the Paris 2024 Olympics?

As thousands of athletes from around the world wrap up their impressive showing in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, three major nations were notably absent from the parade of flags flying through French stadiums and streets. Who are these nations, and why are they being shut out of the Olympics altogether?

Due to ongoing doping issues, geopolitical tensions and conflicts, all three countries have been banned entirely from competing under their own national flags at this year’s Olympics.

Russia and Belarus, two European nations excluded from the Olympic Games

Two and a half years after Putin’s Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and Belarus and its ruling regime’s unequivocal support for the conflict, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken a rare and harsh stance against both nations.

Not all Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete for their country at this year’s Summer Olympics. It would obviously be unfair to completely exclude innocent athletes who have nothing to do with the Kremlin. These athletes are therefore allowed to participate as individuals. However, they must participate as “neutral individual athletes” (AIN, the French acronym for “athletes individual neutrals”).

The decision means hundreds of athletes from both nations were barred from displaying the national symbols of Russia or Belarus during the Paris Olympics, including flags, anthems or even uniforms displaying their country’s colours or emblems.

At the last Tokyo 2020 Olympics (which were actually held a year later due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Russian athletes competed under the acronym “ROC” because their country had been banned again. This ban, however, had nothing to do with geopolitics. Rather, it was a punishment from Russia for allegedly encouraging doping domestically to illegally improve the performance of its athletes.

The IOC’s decision to force Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Games as neutral countries was not an easy one. However, the IOC wanted to send a strong message against an illegal war.

There were reportedly calls for the IOC to ban Israel in the same way, due to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza; however, this has not been the case.

The Russian flag at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Credit: S.yume, Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Taiwan, the other flag banned from the Olympics

Taiwan, the island nation officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), has for decades been a hot and controversial topic in international politics and thus at the Olympics.

Before the communist revolution, Taiwan was part of China. But it has been more than 70 years since the island of Taiwan was separated from mainland China. Due to this conflict, Taiwanese athletes are no longer allowed to compete under the name “Republic of China.” Instead, the term “Chinese Taipei” has been used since 1981. The nation is not allowed to use the official flag of Taiwan, which was the flag of China before the communist revolution. Instead, Taiwanese athletes use a specially designed “plum blossom banner” on a white background flag.

The arrangement was a difficult compromise between the Taiwanese people’s strong desire to participate in the Olympics and China’s strong insistence that Taiwan is part of its territory and therefore has no right to participate in the Olympics.

Thanks to the “Chinese Taipei” compromise and its special flag, Taiwanese athletes can freely participate in the Olympics. However, they are not allowed to directly challenge China’s claims to their island.