Michel Pastoureau (born 17 June 1947) is a French professor of medieval history and an expert in Western symbology.

He studied at the École Nationale des Chartes, a college for prospective archivists and librarians.

After writing his 1972 thesis about heraldic bestiaries in the Middle Ages, he worked in the coins, medals and antiquities department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France until 1982.

When he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1996, he was described as an eminent scholar who has made a radical contribution to several disciplines.

Professor Pastoureau has published widely, including work on the history of colours, animals, symbols, and the knights of the Round Table.