The exile of Behanzin did not legalize the French colonization. The French general Dodds offered the throne to every one of the immediate royal family in return for a signature on a treaty establishing a French protectorate over the Kingdom; all refused. Finally, Behanzin's Army Chief of Staff (and distant relative) Prince Agoli-agbo was appointed to the throne, as a 'traditional chief' rather than head of state of a sovereign nation, by the French when he agreed to sign the instrument of surrender. He 'reigned' for only six years, assisted by a French Viceroy. The French prepared for direct administration, which they achieved on February 12, 1900. Agoli-agbo went into exile in Gabon, and the Save. He returned to live in Abomey as a private citizen in 1918.
Agoli-agbo's symbols are a leg kicking a rock, a bow (a symbol of the return to traditional weapons under the new rules established by the colonial administrators), and a broom.