The history of Grenada's mail and stamps covers the development of the postal service of Grenada, an island nation within the British Commonwealth with its capital at St. George's, consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands in the southern part of the Grenadines archipelago in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, to the northwest from Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Grenada has issued its own postage stamps since 1861. The country has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1978. The first Grenada postage stamps were issued on June 3, 1861, in denominations of 1 penny (green) and 6 pence (lilac). The design of the stamps depicting Queen Victoria was of the "Head of Chalons" type.