This is another stray which I said I'd add to my (long) list of flags to do many years ago. I've never been entirely convinced that these flags were ever carried despite the document of 1737 which describes them. Pierre Charrié, the noted French authority on flags, says in his book Drapeaux et Étendards du Roi that the central design was probably originally two crossed anchors. I've followed Michel Petard's famous reconstruction which is well-known and an attractive design.
This is a plate I did many years ago showing the probable summer dress of an infantryman of the Compagnies Franches de la Marine:
Kronoskaf has a long article on the Compagnies Franches de la Marine here: http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Colonial_Compagnies_Franches_de_la_Marine
