I am trying to identify some toy soldiers in a collection belonging to my father. In particular. I have piece with a colonial era soldier holding a flag with a white cross and brown and purple quadrants. The soldier is wearing a knee length gray or light blue coat with dark blue cuffs and collar, and a red shirt.
My initial impression is that it would be a French regiment from the French and Indian War. I'm thinking, Languedoc perhaps? This image has all the flags for you to check out. (Bottom of the third column is 53eme regiment Languedoc.)
I agree with /u/BraveChewWorld that the colors (or Drapeaux de Ordonnance- the French equivalent of British Regimental Colours) are those of the Regiment Languedoc. However- The colors of the uniform strike me as off. The collar on the coat would place the figure as sometime after 1751. At this time, most French regiments were adopting collars. You did not mention lapels- So I'll assume the figure has none on its coat. This would indicate that the figure pre-dates 1761- A depiction of the regiment at that time shows the soldiers wearing coats with blue-lapels.
Your description of a red-shirt is curious. Might this be a waist-coat. If so, it would not make much sense for it to be this color. The Languedoc regiment, like most of the army, was wearing colored waistcoats in 1753 (these had been permitted by regulations six years previous). However, these were in the color of the regimental facings- i.e., blue. An image of a private soldier in 1757 shows such a uniform- http://i.imgur.com/0QzwpHp.jpg. Perhaps the red waistcoat is a coloring error?
Regardless, the color of the coat is likely supposed to be light grey- French uniforms were off-white.
Some other details which might help date the figure- Are the skirts of the coat hooked back to show the lining- Or unhooked? Are the skirts cut full or straight? Are the sleeves close-fitting, or somewhat voluminous? Are the cuffs wide and deep, or small and round?
