At which Summer Olympics was the Olympic flame first lit in the stadium?

The Olympic flame was first lit in the stadium at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. A flame burned in the Marathon Tower of the Olympic Stadium during the Games, establishing a visual tradition that later became central to Olympic ceremonies.

The Amsterdam flame did not arrive through the modern torch relay. The relay from Olympia in Greece to the host city was introduced at Berlin 1936, eight years later. This distinction is a common source of confusion when Olympic flame traditions are discussed.

The flame itself draws on the ancient Greek association between fire and the Olympic festivals, but the modern ceremonial practice was developed in the twentieth century. Olympic organizers have used it to symbolize continuity between ancient and modern Games.

At later editions, the flame was carried by runners, transferred between torches and used in a cauldron-lighting ceremony. The host stadium cauldron remains one of the most recognizable symbols of an Olympic opening ceremony.