Why does Greece go first at the Olympics? What to know about parade of nations tradition

Anyone watching the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics saw Greece's athletes sail out onto the Seine River ahead of the rest of the countries competing.

Why did Greece go first? Because it is the birthplace of the Olympic Games and holds this honor at every Olympics.

"It was at Amsterdam 1928 that the tradition of the Greek delegation marching first was introduced – owing to the status of the founding country of the ancient Olympic Games," the official Olympics website reads .

Order of countries in Olympic opening ceremony

The order of the parade of nations after Greece is determined by the French spelling of their country names. Germany is Allemagne in French, for example, so it goes with the As, not the Gs. The only exceptions are the United States, which is Etats-Unis in French but goes second-to-last because it is hosting the next Summer Games, and France, because it’s the host country.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why does Greece go first at the Olympics? What to know about parade of nations tradition