The "skirt": a supplementary band of design at one or both ends of a Turkmen rug, outside the main border, often woven in a deliberately different technique or pattern from the rest of the piece. Elems served practical roles on tent bags and animal trappings, and for collectors they are a fingerprint — the style of an elem helps attribute a piece to a specific tribe such as the Tekke, Salor, or Yomut.
A narrow band running alongside the wide main border of a rug, framing it and completing the boundary around the field much as a frame surrounds a painting; it is also called a secondary border. Many Sarouk rugs, for example, wrap a much thinner secondary border around the primary one, and wide floral borders, as on some Tabriz and Kashan rugs, are often edged by narrow guards. The broad main border and its slim guards together form a hierarchy of bands that sets off the design.
The widest band framing the field of a rug, usually flanked by one or more much thinner guard borders. Its color normally differs from the field, and its ornament, such as floral vines, vases, rosettes or geometric repeats, runs around all four sides. In city rugs the pattern is expected to turn cleanly at the corners, whereas tribal rugs are less likely to keep it continuous. Under a dining table mostly the border stays visible, so its color and design deserve extra attention when choosing a rug.