I’m an American, but not involved in any kind of federal purchasing. I would have assumed that a federal purchaser would make up a reason not to buy my otherwise-perfect product if it had some unpopular statement on it, like a Confederate flag.
Do you know of any counter examples where a company was able to make a successful bid with a product that had good fit, but an inconvenient non-functional addon like that?
Actually, probably. If the item meets the specs and the price, that's what matters.
Just as there is no shortage of federal buildings, and even military installations named after Confederate things.
This HN discussion illustrates how bringing up Confederate themes, you can really tell when someone isn't an American.