You can traverse from an element up to the root looking for the desired tag:
function findUpTag(el, tag) {
while (el.parentNode) {
el = el.parentNode;
if (el.tagName === tag)
return el;
}
return null;
}
You call this method with your start element:
var el = document.getElementById("..."); // start element
var a = findUpTag(el, "A"); // search <a ...>
if (a) console.log(a.id);