Postal Service rolls out the Nevada stamp

The U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday rolled out the new Nevada postage stamp, showing the state flag.

Gov. Jim Gibbons described it as a historic symbol for the state.

"We're known as the Silver State; we're known as the sagebrush state and the Battle Born state," he said at the unveiling ceremony. "And the flag is rich in all those symbols."

The stamp is part of the Flags of Our Nation series. The 44-cent Nevada stamp comes in a roll of 50 with nine other state flags and a U.S. flag stamp. Each $22 roll includes five Nevada stamps.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Bilbray, now a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, pointed out there are 4,800 Postal Service employees in Nevada, some 1,500 of them veterans. He said the Founding Fathers felt the central postal system was so important to the nation they named Ben Franklin the nation's first postmaster general.

The stamps are on sale at the post office.