Even this far from America, the whiff of U.S. patriotism -- a heady blend of gunpowder, barbecue smoke and hot air -- was unusually palpable last week. Tuesday was Independence Day, always an occasion for Americans to put out more flags, if only because they like the look of red, white and blue in July sunshine.

The U.S. presidential election campaigns continue to encourage true believers of every political stripe to show their colors. (The "Jelly-bellied Flag-flappers," as Rudyard Kipling called people like them, will have their peak moment during the staged frenzy of the party conventions later in the summer.)

Flag makers nationwide have reported unexpected shortages in all sizes of Old Glory ("People just seem to be getting more patriotic," said one bemused dealer). And in a move perfectly scripted for the media age, U.S. television producer Norman Lear and Internet entrepreneur David Hayden last week bought one of the few surviving original copies of the Declaration of Independence in an online auction. The two plan to take their trophy on the road as the star of a traveling U.S. heritage show, complete with actors and rap artists. "Twelve months a year, we want to remind Americans of the stake they have in the preamble of that document," Mr. Lear said.