--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Tonga Flag Bearer Explains Oil description: Tonga's flag bearer made waves on social media during the Olympic opening ceremonies when he led his country into the arena covered in oil. canonical: https://time.com/4456026/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer-oil-explanation/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-17T16:24:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:35.862Z og:title: Tongan Flag Bearer Explains Why He Was Covered in Oil og:description: It had cultural significance og:url: https://time.com/4456026/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer-oil-explanation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tongan Flag Bearer Explains Why He Was Covered in Oil twitter:description: It had cultural significance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The Olympic Tongan Flag Bearer Has a Great Explanation for Why He Was Covered in Oil  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 17, 2016 4:24 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 17, 2016 4:24 PM UTC [Tonga’s flag bearer](http://time.com/4441924/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer/) Pita Nikolas Taufatofua made waves on social media during the [opening ceremonies](http://time.com/4441321/rio-2016-olympics-opening-ceremony/?xid=homepage) of the [2016 Rio Olympics](http://time.com/4454870/simone-biles-ends-rio-olympics-with-four-gold-medals/) when he led his country into the arena shirtless and covered in oil. However, while many seemed to be under the impression that Taufatofua looked that way for the audience’s benefit, his shiny appearance actually had cultural significance. The taekwondo athlete took to [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/TheRealTongaNinja/photos/a.279325942435371.1073741829.278406869193945/280558575645441/?type=3&theater) recently to explain what body oil means to the Tongan people. “Coconut oil is an integral part of indigenous Oceanian body adornment,” he wrote. “Typically performers apply copious amounts of coconut oils on their body as a celebration of the symmetry of the human body as well as a mark of ancestral identity.” Taufatofua went on to explain the ancestral roots of the other aspects of his outfit, including the designs on his ngatu — the cloth he wore around his waist — denoting “the deep spiritual oneness of Oceanians and their land.” He also shared a link to a [petition](https://www.change.org/p/walt-disney-we-are-moana-we-are-maui?recruiter=62643494&utm%5Fsource=share%5Fpetition&utm%5Fmedium=facebook&utm%5Fcampaign=share%5Ffacebook%5Fresponsive&utm%5Fterm=mob-xs-share%5Fpetition-custom%5Fmsg&recuruit%5Fcontext=fb%5Fshare%5Fmention%5Fvariant), which appears to be closed, calling on Disney to fund a scholarship for Pacific Islander children. \[[h/t Buzzfeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/robstott/pita-taufatofua?bftw&utm%5Fterm=.xungKJRqx#.kaP5Kq92a)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4456026/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer-oil-explanation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4456026/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer-oil-explanation/"},"headline":"The Olympic Tongan Flag Bearer Has a Great Explanation for Why He Was Covered in Oil","datePublished":"2016-08-17T16:24:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:35.862Z","description":"It had cultural significance","url":"https://time.com/4456026/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer-oil-explanation/","keywords":["Newsfeed","olympics","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Rio 2016 Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4456026/rio-2016-olympics-tonga-flag-bearer-oil-explanation/","name":"The Olympic Tongan Flag Bearer Has a Great Explanation for Why He Was Covered in Oil"}}]}] ```