The invention discloses a control method and device for an unmanned aerial vehicle. The control method comprises the steps that a dynamic image is acquired, and multiple variation regions in all image frames contained in the dynamic image are extracted; the variation regions are sequentially matched with a gesture template and a 
human body silhouette template which are prestored in a prestored 
template library, the variation regions are recognized according to matching results, and corresponding operating instructions are acquired; when any one variation region is successfully matched with the gesture template, the variation region is recognized as a gesture, and a gesture control 
operating instruction matched with the gesture is generated; when any one variation region is unsuccessfully matched with the gesture template and successfully matched with the 
human body silhouette template, the variation region is recognized as a 
human body silhouette, and a human body control 
operating instruction is generated; when the variation region is unsuccessfully matched with the gesture template and the human body silhouette template, a returning 
operating instruction is generated; the operating instructions corresponding to the variation regions are executed.