LIBERTY TREE? Nice name... Indeed, the first flag flown by American Navy ships commissioned by Commander in Chief Washington displayed a triangle, or Trinity shaped, evergreen tree with the motto "Appeal to Heaven" below, on a white ground, or background. This first Navy flag is described in a letter written by Washington's aide, Colonel Joseph Reed, later the 3rd President of Pennsylvania, dated 20 October a.d. 1775, and held today in the Library of Congress.