Flags of the Holy Roman Empire
In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte declared the First French Empire. In response to this, Emperor Francis II of the Habsburg dynasty declared his personal domain to be the Austrian Empire and became Francis I of Austria. Taking the colours of the banner of the Holy Roman Emperor, the flag of the Austrian Empire was black and gold. Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, with Napoleon forcing the empire's dissolution in 1806. After this point, these colours continued to be used as the flag of Austria until 1918.
Coronations in Europe
Since Charlemagne in 800, Holy Roman Emperors were crowned by the pope until 1530, when Charles V became the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, at Bologna. Thereafter, until the abolition of the empire in 1806, Imperial coronations were held in Frankfurt and were performed by the Spiritual Princes-Electors,the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier. Later rulers simply proclaimed themselves "Electus Romanorum Imperator" or "Elected Emperor of the Romans", without the formality of a coronation by the Pontiff.