No Flag, No King

The tricolor flag of France since 1793.
From: WorldAtlas.com

In August 1873, French monarchists were shopping for a new king. The Third French Republic (i.e., no king) had been proclaimed in September 1870 following the capture of Emperor Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) by Prussians during the Franco-Prussian War. But by 1873, monarchists in the National Assembly had garnered sufficient power to end the Republic by naming a new king. Their choice? Henry, count of Chambord, from the royal Bourbon family. I'll let historian Norman Rich take the story from here.

Henry, Count of Chambord, of the
French royal Bourbon family.
From: Wikimedia

"As he was without heirs, he was to be succeeded by the Orleanist, the count of Paris (1838-1894). It was a sensible arrangement, but the count of Chambord was not a sensible man. He insisted on the restoration of the white fleur-de-lis flag of the Bourbons as the emblem of France in place of the tricolor, which had been the national flag since the revolution. 'Henry V cannot abandon the flag of Henry IV,' said the high-minded candidate, referring to his ancestor who had changed his religion three times in the process of becoming king. The flag issue proved to be insurmountable. The French national would not give up the banner that had flown at Austerlitz and Jena, at Sevastopol and Solferino. Even the loyal [Marshal] MacMahon admitted that if the white flag of the Bourbons were run up, the chassepots would go off of their own accord. In November, 1873, the monarchists in the assembly voted to give MacMahon the 'executive power' in France for seven years, in the hope that by that time the count of Chambord would be dead and the candidate succeeding him would be more reasonable." (189-190) --Norman Rich, The Age of Nationalism and Reform, 1850-1890

He turned down the offer to be king because of a damn flag!

Flag of the Bourbon family.