This year, India will participate in its 26th Summer Olympics, returning to Paris, the site of the nation's original Olympic endeavors. That is, at least, what the International Olympic Council's (IOC) records indicate.

The women's hockey team's failure to qualify for the Olympics has resulted in a reduction of the number of athletes representing the nation to 111 this year from 124 at the Tokyo Games.

Curiously, though, this will only be the 20th occasion in which the athletes compete under the Indian flag in its current form—the tricolor with the Ashoka Chakra in the center.

Because India was ruled by the British during the first five games in which it participated, the flag that was flown at the time was either the Viceroy's flag or the Civil Ensign of the period.