Claim: The Austrian Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy, with yellow and black bars, was approved for use as a civil flag at the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1804, for the later Austrian Empire and for the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary until 1918.
Evidence: In the 18th century, the simpler form with the yellow and black bars started to appear in the Habsburg Monarchy. With the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1804, this flag was approved for use as a civil flag. The black-yellow flag was used in a way similar to a modern national flag of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy within the Holy Roman Empire, the later Austrian Empire and the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, sometimes still even used for the entire empire, until 1918.