South Africa competed at the Summer Olympic Games for the first time since 1960 at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. South Africa was permitted to re-join the Olympic Movement after its white citizens voted to abolish apartheid. 93 competitors, 68 men and 25 women, took part in 87 events in 19 sports.
As a result of a dispute over what flag and anthem to use, the team participated in these games under a specially designed sporting flag. The flag consisted of a white field charged with a grey diamond, which represented the country's mineral wealth, three cascading bands of blue, orange, and green, which represented the sea, the land, and agriculture respectively, and the Olympic rings. Team uniforms included the emblem of Olympic Committee of South Africa, which depicted Olympic rings surrounded by olive branches, with the name of the country above. The Olympic Committee of South Africa stated that Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" was picked as the team's anthem instead of the national anthem at the time, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", at these games to "represent national unity". During the opening ceremony, the flag was carried by marathon runner Jan Tau.
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
In South Africa's debut appearance in Olympic archery, the nation was represented by two archers. Neither advanced past the ranking round.
Five cyclists, four men and one woman, represented South Africa in 1992.
Five fencers, three men and two women, represented South Africa in 1992.
One male pentathlete represented South Africa in 1992.
Two synchronized swimmers represented South Africa in 1992.