Russian ambassador to Australia Alexei Pavlovsky accused tournament bosses of "sacrificing the spirit of fair play" after they imposed a ban on the flags at the tournament site.

"It is indeed regrettable to see the tournament organisers give in to rather arrogant political manipulation," he said. 

The question is one which has vexed sporting officials for many years.

Before World War II, South Korea's Sohn Kee-Chung won gold in marathon at Berlin 1936. 

Imperial Japan then occupied his country, so he was therefore forced to wear a uniform bearing the Japanese flag and listen to the Japanese anthem at the medal ceremony.

At the same Games, the Indian hockey team were obliged to listen to the British national anthem after winning their gold medal.

Seventy years ago, when the IOC met at the Hotel Prado in Mexico City, the newly elected International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Avery Brundage made a proposal.

"The President submits to the members' appreciation the project of substituting a special Olympic hymn to the national hymns sung or played during the presentation of the medals at the Games," the official minutes of the IOC session read.

"Sounding the trumpets during the Ceremony of presenting the medals.

"National hymns are often very long while a fanfare of trumpets would shorten the proceedings."

The French member Count Jean de Beaumont agreed that each anthem be shortened.

The great French sporting daily L’Equipe sounded a note in support of anthems, recalling joyous scenes at the Helsinki 1952 Olympics after the 1500 metres gold medal won by Luxembourg's Josy Barthel.

"Is it a display of nationalism when Barthel exclaimed with tears of emotion, 'I am especially glad for the sake of my own small native country?'" the paper quoted Barthel as saying. 

"Is this outburst of emotion to be condemned ? One can hardly think so," L’Equipe responded.

"Unanimously the Assembly votes for maintaining the status quo," the official IOC minutes recorded.

Swiss IOC member Albert Mayer, brother of Olympic Chancellor Otto, made a similar proposal two years later, and it was rejected again.

The decade was a time when Cold War tensions percolated into the world of sport.

In 1956, some stayed away from the Melbourne Olympics because of the Suez Crisis and the brutal suppression of the Hungarian rising.

The Netherlands were absent from Melbourne for this latter reason, but they were represented at the 1957 IOC Session in Sofia.

Dutch National Olympic Committee head Hans Linthorst-Homan also proposed "that the hoisting of the flags and the playing of the victor's national anthem at the official ceremonies be discontinued."

In addition, he suggested "that the athletes of all nations should parade according to their sport and not by nations", an idea eventually adopted by the World Games two decades later.

Brundage assured him that the ideas would be considered by the IOC membership.

Linthorst-Loman's internationalist position was perhaps unsurprising.

He was a Government official and that year, led the Dutch delegation which signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing what was to become the European Union.

At this time, Germany was considered to be one entity by the IOC, even though politically divided into East and West.

It was therefore decreed that any gold medal should be saluted with an extract from Beethoven's ninth "Chorale" symphony.

In 1961, Brundage again unsuccessfully proposed abolishing anthems when the IOC met in Athens.

Many nations voiced their opposition to the proposal.

"If an Olympic champion is deprived of this symbolic tie with his homeland, much of the joy of victory will be marred," an unsigned article from Bulgaria in the Olympic Review proclaimed. 

Later in the decade, IOC member Prince George of Hanover, President of the International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia, revived the campaign to abolish anthems and national flags

"The Olympic honours should be directed more to the athletes in their personal quality than as representatives of their country," the Prince suggested.

"It  would simply be a matter of celebrating the prize-giving ceremony for the best three athletes of  the Olympic Games who would be awarded their 'victor's laurels' under the Olympic flag."

Prince George also pointed out that a fanfare would provide echoes of the ancient Olympics.

Some 21 members joined the debate.

"Necessary emphasis on national feelings is already given during the flag hoisting ceremony in the Olympic Village, therefore during the Games there should only be the Olympic banner to unite all," Nigeria’s Sir Ade Ademola said. 

The prevailng wind seemed to be for change.

 Thirty four IOC members voted in favour and only 22 opposed it, but the required two thirds majority for the rule change was lacking.

The question would not go away.

"Eliminating the formalities of any reminder of the winner's origin, the moderate international classification would exorcise the demon of chauvinistic nationalism," wrote Le Figaro editor Jean Francois Brisson in 1971.

The concept of the Games as competitions between individuals took another intriguing turn in1976.

Many nations boycotted the Games as a protest against the New Zealand rugby tour of South Africa.

Most of those who stayed away were from the African continent, but Guyana also decided not to attend the Olympics.

Guyanese sprinter James Gilkes, Pan-American gold medallist over 200 metres in 1975 and an authentic medal prospect for Montreal, made a personal appeal to the IOC.

"An athlete from Guyana whose team had already withdrawn from the Games had requested to compete under IOC patronage in the 100m and 400m," the IOC minutes revealed.

It was said that international athletics authorities were "willing to help the athlete", but the plea was rejected even though the IOC was "sympathetic" to the case of the Guyanan athlete.

There were similar entreaties in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan cast a shadow over the build up to the Olympics in Moscow.

"One sometimes gets the feeling that athletes are being used by their countries merely as puppets in an attempt to show that one political system is better than another," Finnish member Paavo Honkajuuri told the IOC session before the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

He made a further call for the Olympic anthem and flag to replace national emblems.

The IOC did not remove them altogether, but made some subtle but significant changes to the regulations.

British Olympic Association chairman Denis Follows had suggested that at the Opening Ceremony, teams should have the option of parading behind an Olympic flag.

"Flags were indicative of nationalism, and it would be argued that for an individual athlete from a team to bear the flag of his country at the head of his delegation represented nationalism rather than a competition between individuals," Follows said.

The IOC rule modifications cleared the way for teams to march under the name and flag of their NOC rather than national emblems.

Lord Killanin later claimed that these had ensured the participation in Moscow of athletes from at least 25 countries that might otherwise not have taken part.

The IOC did also consider the possibility of individual entries in 1980, but the idea was rejeted.

"Problems could arise if individuals were allowed to compete," warned Italy’s Franco Carraro and the idea was shelved.

The IOC admitted "the need for de-politicisation of the Games under the present world climate" and promised to review their Ceremony protocol for future Games.

When the World Games was established the following year in Santa Clara, athletes each entered with others from the same sport instead of parading by nation

"Our theme is sport for the sake of sport, and a total disregard for where an athlete comes from," World Games Association President Un-Yong Kim told the assembled group.

Medal Ceremonies were accompanied by the opening bars of Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland.

In more recent years, the removal of flags and anthems has been part of a punishment handed out to an errant NOC.

Kuwait's NOC was banned at Rio 2016, but shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani won his double trap gold under the Olympic Flag.

Russia was suspended after doping violations but the IOC made concessions which had not been accorded to other NOCs in similar situations.

At Pyeongchang 2018, their competitors were styled "Olympic Athlete From Russia".

In Tokyo and Beijing, athletes wore uniforms with the crest of the Russian Olympic Committee which incorporated a stylised version of the Russian National flag. 

The victory anthem  was greeted with an extract from Tchaikovsky’s Piano concerto number 1, a piece synonymous with the nation.

This week in Melbourne, Pavlovsky accused Tennis Australia of  "discriminating against Russian tennis players with its neutral flag policy".

On the other side of the world, the World University Games in Lake Placid gave a further glimpse of what a world without national anthems can look like.

Medalllists have been saluted with the International University Sports Federation (FISU) anthem "Gaudeamus Igitur".

This use of a traditional student melody, thought to be a nineteenth century drinking song, is a FISU tradition.

It also happens to be a damn good tune.