Taiwanese athletes are banned from carrying their national flag at the Olympics. They must compete as “Chinese Taipei,” a made-up name that misrepresents their national identity.
Some countries have announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in protest of China’s reported human rights abuses. Diplomats officially represent their countries, but so do national flags. A flag boycott would, therefore, be in line with a diplomatic boycott, albeit one organized in response to a separate issue.
That said, a more compelling reason for leaving national flags out of the Olympics is fairness.