He would then wear it around his neck, with the knot to the front, in his Sunday jacket pocket, on his hat or on the stick that he would normally carry around.

If the girl's love was not returned, the kerchief would be given back to her.

Rich in several symbols and different motives, the most common are flowers, crosses, coat of arms, little birds, doves, Salomon stars, baskets, hearts, keys, agricultural tools, butterflies, fishes, dogs, letters, quatrains, dates, crowns, branches, and couples covered or not by an umbrella.

Other times, these kerchiefs were used only in games, just for the fun of it. In parties the boys would take the kerchiefs of the girls pretending a love affair.

When the boy was already engaged, this game could result in a quarrel between his girlfriend and the other girl from whom the handkerchief was stolen.

Since then, these kerchiefs have portrayed various kinds of sentiments felt by marriageable girls, expressed through symbols of faithfulness or religious devotion, where quatrains reveal the illiteracy of the embroideress, as bad spelling or misspelling are common.