July 1, 2014 by Karen Hill | Filed Under: Geography. The words âBattle Bornâ appear on the Nevada state flag because Nevada was admitted to the Union in 1864, during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln needed another Republican state to help support his antislavery policies in Congress. Even though Nevada didnât have the required number of people to form a state, people in Nevada went ahead and voted for statehood. The U.S. government owns 85 percent of the land in Nevada, the highest percentage of any state.