General is the second highest rank in the Sri Lankan Army and is a four-star rank. The rank is held by a Chief of the Defence Staff or is mostly awarded as a ceremonial rank to retiring Commanders of the Army. The serving Commander of the Army since the 1970s have head the rank of Lieutenant-General with a brief exception in 2009 when Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka was promoted as a General while he was still the Army Commander. Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka thus to date is the only 5-Star General in the history of Sri Lanka Armed Forces.
A general's insignia is a crossed sword and baton. A Major-General has a pip over this emblem; a Lieutenant-General a Sri Lanka emblem instead of a pip; and a full General both a pip and the Sri Lanka emblem.
Brigadiers, although equivalent to Brigadier Generals in other armies, are now considered to be general officers in the Sri Lankan Army.