Every rug is comprised of two sections: the border and the field.  The border is the main decorative design that surrounds the rug.  Some rugs also have guard borders; these are narrow decorative designs adjacent to the main border.  The field is the area of the rug located within the borders.  This can sometimes contain an all over pattern or a medallion, which is most often a round, oval, or polygonal design.

These two parts are also important in identifying the rug.  The dominant color in the field and border respectively end up in the name of the rug (i.e., Pietra 6265F Red/Gold).  Red is the dominant color of the field and gold is the dominant color of the border.