Face pose estimation is widely used in the fields of face recognition, human-computer interaction,and facial expression analysis. One of the important indicators is the accuracy of face pose estimation. Aiming at the problem of the deflection angle in the acquired three-dimensional (3D) face model, a 3D face pose estimation algorithm based on symmetry plane is proposed. According to the zygomorphy of the face, the symmetry plane is extracted, and then the symmetry contour is calculated. The symmetry plane is aligned with the yoz coordinate plane to obtain the first posture adjustment result. The vector formed by the two ends of the symmetry contour is adjusted to be parallel to the y coordinate axis to obtain the second posture adjustment result. The pose estimation results are obtained by two pose adjustments. The accuracy of the algorithm is evaluated by the β of the face model rotating around the y-axis. 12 face point cloud models with different yaw angles are generated based on the BJUT-3D face database,and they are used as the test data set for the experiment. The experimental results demonstrate that the mean absolute error of β is less than 0.55° in the range from -30° to 30°. Compared with other face pose estimation algorithms based on feature points, the proposed algorithm has higher accuracy.